Soups or Stews are delicious, but the toppings make them shine. Creamy tomato soup tastes great with freshly grated cheddar, and chilli tastes even better with sliced scallions, a dollop or two of sour cream and some cracked black pepper. Even a simple bowl of butternut squash soup can be elevated by adding a drizzle of olive oils, some cracked pepper and a swirl of yoghurt.

Ina Garten also loves soup toppings, which is no surprise. Ina Garten is a master at sharing simple ways to enhance your cooking. This brings me to my favourite Ina trick: puff pastry croutons. I discovered this gem while looking through her Modern Comfort Food cookbook. I saw the little puffy cutouts in her Chicken Pot Pie Soup and was reminded today by Ina’s Insta post about it. These are delicious and easy to add flavour to any soup or stew.

Soups or Stews are delicious, but the toppings make them shine. Creamy tomato soup tastes great with freshly grated cheddar, and chilli tastes even better with sliced scallions, sour cream and cracked black pepper. Even a simple drizzle of olive oil or a swirl of yoghurt can elevate any bowl of butternut soup.

Ina Garten also loves soup toppings, which is no surprise. Ina Garten is a master at sharing simple ways to enhance your cooking. This brings me to my favourite Ina trick: puff pastry croutons. I discovered this gem while I was looking through her Modern Comfort Food. I saw the little puffy cutouts in her Chicken Pot Pie Soup. I was reminded today by Ina’s post on her Insta. These are delicious and easy to add flavour to any soup or stew.

Homemade Croutons can be made with your cookie cutters.

You will need to get your cookie cutters to make these delicious carby toppings. You heard it right! Cookie cutters are perfect for the holidays and make homemade croutons to go with soups and stews or create a Caesar Salad.

Ina’s Chicken Pot Pie Soup captures traditional flavours but is a smooth, silky smooth soup that has just the right texture. Ina also adds puff pastry croutons to pot pie because it is incomplete without topping. Ina freezes a sheet from store-bought puff pastry in the fridge overnight to make them. Ina uses round fluted and heart-shaped cookie cutters after defrosting the puff pastry. To make the cutouts. Then she brushes the cutouts with an egg wash and seasons them with salt and pepper. Finally, she bakes them until they are golden brown and puffy.

This idea is simple and can be used to make a soup that’s not too fancy or for picky eaters to become more interested in greens. Ina is a reliable source of quality cooking advice and delicious yet elegant dishes. She also has the recipe for a perfect-sized cosmopolitan. And now, she shares the secret to making a top-quality soup topping.