Cock-a-leekie soup (vegetarian version)

I decided to experiment with vegetarian cock-a-leekie soup.

Method

 * 1) I boiled a whole packet of Quorn chicken style meat substitute with most of a tin of prunes preserved in fruit juice adding some water.  I couldn't resist eating a few prunes at once so I replaced them with a few dried raisins and other mixed dried fruit.
 * 2) I cut up a small Potato and half a leek.
 * 3) I boiled the potato and leek together in a separate saucepan and added a small amount of the cooked Quorn and fruit.
 * 4) I added a little camembert cheese (Vegans can probably leave this out, also other mild cheeses like cottage cheese will probably also work).

Result
The prunes and dried fruit mostly disintegrated during cooking. Still this flavoured the broth and I liked the combination between chicken flavoured Quorn and prunes. Now I'll freeze the rest of the Quorn and prune mix so I'll be stuck with this for some time. If you feel like something more like traditional Cock-a-leekie soup, say for Burn's Night it's probably better to add dried prunes later in cooking to keep them fairly firm. I made the soup again with French brie cheese which tasted at least as good.

I bought some dried prunes They cost around £10 per kilo but a packet cost $2.50 with enough prunes for about 4 to 6 portions. I added six prunes and enough chicken substitute for one dish to the broth after the potato and leeks were boiling. I also added a large tablespoon of Rape seed oil as meat substitute has hardly and fat unlike chicken meat.

This time the prunes held together and didn't break up. It tasted different without the fruit juice that tinned prunes came with but I feel would work for a vegetarian Burn's Night. If you are catering for a vegetarian guest please ask in advance whether your guest likes meat substitute or cheese.