Soup – how to make soup less ‘meaty’

None of the answers so far mention collagen -- specifically, using a stock made from roasted and cracked poultry bones.

You don't have to roast the bones, but you do need to crack them -- use a large, heavy knife or cleaver (not a chinese vegetable cleaver, you'll screw up the edge) to chop the bones up into about 2" to 3" pieces (5 to 7cm). Put them in cold water, and slowly bring it up to a simmer, and just leave it simmering for a few hours. You can add vegetables, too, but you'll want to pitch them, as they'll have been overcooked by the time the simmering's done.

Then strain everything, and use that as the base of your soup.

If your refrigerate stock that has enough collagen in it, it'll set up like jello, and hold its own shape. Starches can work, but they're not ideal for soup -- flour (unless cooked as a roux) leaves a raw flour taste and cloudy soup; tapioca leaves little granules in there; corn starch will break down if you cook it too long.

This is not a defect but a characteristic of pea-soup. In Holland, the pea-soup is considered good when a wooden spoon can be put upright in the pot. I've never eating it that thick myself, though.

The starches and the gelatin will form a mesh when cooling, so the consistency of the pea-soup will always be thick when cold. On heating, do what Mien advised: add some water or broth to the soup to the consistency that you want.

You will have to heat slowly because otherwise the soup will stick to the bottom of the pan and burn.

Don't forget to thoroughly heat the soup and let is simmer for at least 10' to kill any unwanted visitors (germs) before serving.