Arrabiata Soup

This is a really simple lift from my tried and tested Roasted Tomato and Basil Soup which is made embarrassingly often in our house.

The 'arrabiata' or angry element is the addition of fantastic fiery red chilli which makes for a warming, delicious soup ideal for a winter's day. You can remove the seeds of the chilli to reduce the heat but we prefer it hot!

The below makes enough for x2 large portions. 

Arrabiata Soup

Here's how:

• 500g tomatoes (can also use x1 tin chopped tomatoes)
• 1 red onion
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 large carrot
• 2 celery sticks
• 1 large red jalopeno chilli
• 800ml vegetable stock
• Olive oil
• Salt
• Black Pepper
• Basil stalks

To garnish:

• Grana Padana (or any other hard cheese)
• Basil leaves
• Black pepper

To begin whack the oven on at it's highest temperature. 

Halve the tomatoes and the red onion, peel the garlic cloves and place all on a baking sheet. Season and drizzle with 1 tbsp olive oil then place into the oven on the high heat for 20 minutes or until everything is just charred (blackened) a little.

In the meantime, drizzle a little olive oil into a saucepan and place on a low heat.

Dice the carrot, slice the celery and the red chilli and add to the saucepan and allow to gently soften down - this is the base for your soup.

Once the tomatoes, onion and garlic are softened, add to the saucepan with a few basil stalks and pour over the vegetable stock. Season well and allow to cook for twenty minutes.

Remove from the heat, allow to cool right down then blitz until smooth. 

When wanting to serve, return to the heat and bring up to temperature slowly. 

Ladle into bowls and then if you like to, garnish with slithers of Grana Padana (I use a vegetable peeler for this) and a few basil leaves and season with a final flourish of black pepper. Enjoy!

Slow Cooker Creamy Chicken and Mushroom Soup

This time of the year calls for soups-a-plenty and I'm even more of a fan if I can dump everything into my slow cooker and let that do all of the work. 

If you prefer, you can use creme fraiche or even double cream as the 'creamy' element, I just happened to have some leftover ricotta and experimented with a great result.

The below makes enough for x6 adult portions, it freezes well and can be stored in the fridge for up to 1 week after cooking once cooled completely. 

Slow Cooker Creamy Chicken and Mushroom Soup

Here's how:

• 3-4 skinless, boneless chicken thighs
• 150g mushrooms
• 1 white onion
• 1 garlic clove
• 3 celery sticks
• 1 tsp English mustard
• 1 chicken stock cube - made up with 1 litre of water
• 200ml semi skimmed milk
• 1 tbsp dried thyme
• 130g ricotta 
• Salt & black pepper
• Few parsley leaves to garnish (optional)

Roughly chop the onion, celery and garlic and add to the slow cooker. Halve the mushrooms and add these too. 

Cut the chicken into large chunks and add to the slow cooker. 

Make up the chicken stock and pour into the slow cooker with the milk. 

Add the ricotta, mustard and dried thyme to the pan, season generously and stir well. Place onto the lower heat setting and cook for three hours. You can stir every 35-40 minutes if you wish but it is fine to be left.

Once 3 hours have passed, turn off the slow cooker and blitz with a hand-held blender until smooth enough for your liking. Season again and place the slow cooker onto 'warm' until ready to serve. 

Ladle into bowls and add a little parsley garnish if you wish as well as a final seasoning of black pepper. Enjoy!

Some other soup recipes you may enjoy can be found below:

Red Lentil & Chorizo Soup

Fish Chowder

Alphabet & Hidden Vegetable Soup

Mexican Mushroom Soup

Restorative Green Soup

Curried Parsnip and Spinach Soup

Roasted Tomato & Basil Soup

Thai Sweet Potato Soup

Chunky Lentil, Bacon and Kale Soup

 

Cream of Wild Mushroom Soup

Homemade mushroom soup is one of my absolute favourites, and when you can make it with wild mushrooms there is nothing better.  There's currently a green grocer stall in the outside section of Borough Market selling about 300g of woodland wild mushrooms for £3.50 so this week I took full advantage and have enjoyed this glorious soup for three days solid.

You can make it with any mushrooms though and it'll still be tasty so if you can't get the wild mushrooms, just use a mixture of what you can get hold of locally.

This is a completely vegetarian meal and if you wanted to adapt it to make it vegan, you could just omit from using the cream, or use a plant-based variety such as Elmlea Plant Double.

The below makes enough for x4 full portions.

Cream of Wild Mushroom Soup

Here's how:

• 1.5 tbsp olive oil
• 400g wild or mixed mushrooms
• x1 leek
• x1 red onion
• x1 clove of garlic
• x3 celery sticks
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• Pinch black pepper
• 1.5 pints vegetable stock
• 2 tbsp single cream

Firstly drizzle the oil into a heavy bottomed saucepan and place on a low heat. 

Now peel and dice the onion, mince the garlic, slice the leek finely and the celery and place into the pan to gently soften - this is your soup base. 

Now roughly chop the mushrooms and once everything is softened in the pan, add the mushrooms and allow them to get a good coating of the olive oil. Season with a pinch of salt and black pepper now.

Add the dried thyme, which really complements mushrooms, and pour over the stock and bring to a gentle simmer for 20 minutes.

Now blitz the soup - I use my Nutribullet so I always allow the soup to cool a little first to avoid any explosions! 

Once blended, return to the heat and once warmed through remove from the heat and stir through the single cream. Add a tiny drizzle to each bowl once dished up as a pretty garnish.Enjoy!

If you're also making the most of soup season; here are a few other soup recipes you might like:
Restorative Green Soup
Alphabet and Hidden Veg Soup
Winter Vegetable Soup
Red Lentil and Chorizo Soup
Thai Sweet Potato Soup
Curried Parsnip and Spinach Soup

Roasted Celeriac Soup

As it's January and we are enjoying plenty of lighter dishes; including soups.  I made this as an experiment for the first time today and it was absolutely delicious and I'll 100% be making it again soon.

It's completely vegetarian and vegan; so ideal if you are doing Veganuary or generally following a plant-based diet; but it's equally good for those who still enjoy a bit of everything too.

Celeriacs' can be a bit of a faff to prepare, but this recipe is well worth the initial effort and the rest of it is completely low maintenance too. The end result is a thick and creamy tasting soup - really hearty but super healthy too.

The below serves x4 portions with each portion approximately 200 calories.

Roasted Celeriac Soup

Here's how:

• x1 celeriac (approx 600g)
• x2 large garlic cloves
• x1 large white onion
• 1.5 pints vegetable stock
• Pinch of salt and black pepper
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil

Firstly whack the oven onto 180 degrees. 

Now to prepare the celeriac, firstly use a vegetable peeler to remove the outside, dark, gnarly bits of skin. There may be a slightly green tinge underneath, as a posed to the white and creamy depths of the celeriac - it's fine to leave these green bits so you don't lose too much of the celeriac.

Once peeled, carefully slice into 3-4 large slices, and then chop into about 2cm pieces and place into a roasting tin.

Now peel the onion and remove the ends then roughly chop, again into about 2cm sized pieces.

Peel the garlic cloves and throw into the roasting tin with the onion.

Drizzle with the vegetable oil and then season and place into the oven for 35 minutes.

When you remove from the oven, the onion should be charred and have a lovely, smokey flavour which will add to the soup, and the celeriac should have bits that are slightly browning.

Now remove everything and place into a large saucepan and pour over the vegetable stock. 

Use a blender to blitz till thick, smooth and creamy. 

Now gently heat on the hob until warmed through. Enjoy!

Red Lentil and Chorizo Soup

I love a hearty soup and am a huge fan of lentil soups as they are super filling and nutritious too - my Chunky Lentil, Bacon and Kale Soup is one of our family favourites and especially with thick, crusty bread. 

This soup is an ideal January recipe - it's cheap to make using mostly store cupboard items that are undoubtedly already sitting in your cupboards; plus if you're on any kind of new year diet or detox, soups are always on side and this one is around 300 calories, even with tasty fried chorizo in tow. 

Red Lentil and Chorizo Soup

The below serves a family of four as a main course.

Here's how:

• 140g cooking chorizo
• 1 red onion
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 carrot
• 320g red split lentils
• 2 roasted red peppers (I use the jarred variety from Lidl)
• 1x tin of chopped tomatoes
• 1.5 pints chicken stock (I used homemade but Knorr Chicken Stock Pots are great)
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp white pepper

Firstly place a heavy bottomed pan  on a low heat on the hob.

Chop the cooking chorizo into small pieces and add to the pan. Gently toss every minute or so until some become nicely charred and use a slotted spoon to remove the cooked chorizo and set aside for now.

Now peel and dice the onion, mince the garlic and add to the pan in the chorizo juices.

Peel and dice the carrot and add to the pan.  Allow to gently saute and add the cayenne pepper at this point. 

Now place the red split lentils (I usually give a very quick rinse first) into the pan and allow to be coated in the oils. Add the chopped tomatoes and season with a pinch of salt and the white pepper.

Roughly chop the roasted red pepper and add to the pan and finally cover with the chicken stock.

Allow to cook through for 20 minutes or until the lentils are cooked through, then remove from the heat and allow to cool a little. 

Blitz in a blender, Nutribullet or use a hand blender and return to the heat to warm through. 

When hot enough dish up and divide the cooked chorizo between portions and scatter on top as a delicious, meaty garnish. 

If you're looking for more soup inspiration this month here are a few of our other favourite family soups,

Asparagus Soup with Crispy Bacon
Restorative Green Soup
Mexican Mushroom Soup
Alphabet and Hidden Vegetable Soup
Mediterranean Soup
Curried Parsnip and Spinach Soup
Thai Sweet Potato Soup
Roasted Tomato & Basil Soup

Alphabet and Hidden Vegetable Soup

This soup recipe was one I've played with recently in a bid to get more vegetables into my youngest's diet as she is currently going through a fussy phase but she absolutely loves soup. 

Tomato based with some 'hidden' vegetables, and then packed out with alphabet or mini animal pasta shapes and topped with a cheese on toast 'crouton' this is delicious for all ages and is especially warming during this cold, wet weather.

You can pack with whatever vegetables you have in tow, but I use tomatoes, carrots, peppers, onions, celery and leeks and thoroughly blend so none of the above are detected by Beatrice. I always roast the tomatoes and peppers too to add a nice charred flavour - but you can throw them straight into the soup if you're short on time.

Alphabet and Hidden Vegetable Soup

Here's how:

• 450g tomatoes
• 2 carrots
• 1 red onion
• 3 celery sticks
• 2 peppers (I use red and yellow)
• 2 leeks
• 1 clove garlic
• 2.5 pints vegetable stock
• 1 bay leaf
• Handful basil leaves and stalks
• Salt and pepper
• 200g alphabet or animal pasta
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil

Optional:

• x4 slices of sour dough, ciabatta or even baguette
• Handful grated cheddar

Firstly whack the oven onto 220 degrees and cut the tomatoes and peppers in half. Remove the centres of the peppers, place onto a baking tray and drizzle with olive oil. Season with salt and black pepper and roast for 20 minutes. 

Meanwhile pour the oil into a heavy bottomed pan and place on a low heat. Peel and dice the onion, mince the garlic and finely slice the leeks and celery and add to the pan. 

Peel and dice the carrot and add to the pan to fry off for a few minutes.

Now remove the basil leaves from the stalks and set aside, chop the stalks and add to the pan. 

Add the roasted tomatoes and peppers to the pan and cover with the stock, season and add the bay leaf. Cook for 20 minutes on a slow simmer and then remove from the heat, add the basil leaves now and allow to cool a bit. 

Cook the pasta according to the pack instructions and whilst cooking blitz the soup well and return to the pan and begin to warm through. 

Once cooked, drain the pasta and add to the soup pan and stir through. 

Assemble your cheese on toast and place under the grill. 

Once the soup is cooked through and piping hot, and the cheese on the toast is melted, ladle the soup into bowls and allow any for young children to cool down a bit before serving. I like to serve the cheese toast croutons half in, half out of the soup. Enjoy!

Mediterranean Soup

I love a good soup year round but this particular one which relies on ripe and flavourful tomatoes is just a bowlful of summer - it's divine. I guarantee if you make it you'll want to make it again, and soon.

Mediterranean Soup

Here's how:

• 1 red onion
• 1 clove garlic
• 2 celery sticks
• 1 carrot
• 2 red peppers
• 600g ripe tomatoes
• 100g olives
• Olive oil
• 900ml chicken or vegetable stock
• Pinch salt
• Black pepper to taste
• Handful of basil leaves and stalks
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• Grana Padana to taste (optional)

Firstly pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees. 

Cut the tomatoes and the red peppers in half and place into a baking tray or dish and drizzle generously with olive oil. Season and add the oregano and then place into the oven for 30 minutes.

In the meantime make the base of the soup by finely dicing the onion and crushing the garlic and adding to a saucepan with a little olive oil on a low heat.

Finely slice the celery and add to the mix. 

Peel and finely dice the carrot and roughly chop the olives and add to the soup base.

Take the basil leaves away from the stalks and finely chop the stalks - add these to the mix.

Once the tomatoes and red peppers have cooked for 30 minutes and are beginning to char, remove from the oven and place into the soup saucepan - including any juices left behind in the tray.

Make up the stock and pour into the saucepan. Season to taste and at this point add the basil leaves - keeping a couple back to garnish the soup.

Cook for twenty minutes and then remove from the heat. Once cooled, blitz and return to the heat to warm through.

Add a few shavings of Grana Padana or even Cheddar if you like and a basil leaf or two and serve with fresh crusty bread. Enjoy!

Some other soup recipes you may like:

Restorative Green Soup
Asparagus Soup with Crispy Bacon
Chunky Lentil, Bacon and Kale Soup
Mexican Mushroom Soup
Curried Parsnip and Spinach Soup
Leek, Potato and Cauliflower Soup
Skinny Broccoli and Fennel Soup
Red Pepper Soup
Quick Pork Noodle Soup
Smoky Tomato Soup

Smoky Tomato Soup

I love a good, homemade soup and tomato is up there with my favourites - I often make Roasted Tomato and Basil Soup in the summer months, when tomatoes are ripe and full of flavour, but this version is something else entirely.

It has the background sweetness of a normal tomato soup but the roasted, charred flavour mixed with the paprika and the heat from a red chilli makes it smoky. spicy and completely moreish.

It's completely vegetarian too so great for serving to veggie guests - if you omit the cheese at the end it can also be vegan or plant-based.

The below makes three portions of soup and each bowl is around 240 calories when dressed with a little Grana Padano. 

Smoky Tomato Soup

Here's how:

• 600g tomatoes
• 1 white onion
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 red chilli
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 1 vegetable stock pot made up to around 750-800ml
• Pinch salt
• Black pepper
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• Few shavings of Grana Padano

Firstly place onto a high heat of 200 degrees. 

Roughly chop the tomatoes into quarters and throw onto a baking tray. Season generously and pour over the olive oil. Place into the oven for 20 minutes, or until just beginning to char.

In the meantime prepare the base of the soup by finely dicing an onion, mincing a clove of garlic and slicing a chilli and gently frying in a drizzle of olive oil. 

Once the onion mixture is soft, add the paprika and oregano. 

Once the tomatoes are ready, pop them into the pot with the onions and mix through. 

Pour over the vegetable stock and give another seasoning of black pepper and allow to cook away for fifteen minutes.

Blitz the soup off the heat, return to the pan to warm through and serve with a couple of shavings of the Grana Padano. Enjoy!

A few other soup recipes that you might like:

Chunky Lentil & Kale Soup

Asparagus Soup with Crispy Bacon

Curried Parsnip and Spinach Soup

Red Pepper Soup

Quick Pork Noodle Soup

Restorative Green Soup

Winter Vegetable Soup

Thai Sweet Potato Soup

Skinny Broccoli & Fennel Soup

Mexican Mushroom Soup

Curried Lentil Soup

This warming, comforting soup is the perfect pick-me-up when returning from work on a cold day.

It’s vegetarian and vegan friendly too so good if you are practising Meat Free Monday.

It relies on things you would mostly find in the stock cupboard too - so can be made at the last minute at very little cost, win, win.

The gentle spicing makes this almost a liquid curry soup and it’s great for warming you right through.

Curried Lentil Soup

The below serves four.

Here's how:
200g red split lentils
1 onion
2cm piece of ginger, peeled
1 large garlic clove
2 carrots
1.5 pints vegetable stock
1 drizzle olive oil or a Fry Light Spray
1 tsp medium curry powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp garam masala

Firstly drizzle the oil into a saucepan and place on a low heat.

Peel and roughly chop the onion and place in the pan.

Peel and mince or roughly chop the garlic and do the same with the ginger add to the pan.

Now allow these to soften a little before going in with the curry powder, cinnamon, turmeric and garam masala.

While these soften a little, rinse the lentils through with a sieve until the waters run clear.

Now place these into the pan and use a wooden spoon or spatula to move around a little and get a good coating of the spiced garlic, onion and ginger base.

Now pour over the soup and allow to slowly simmer for around 25 minutes or until the lentils are cooked through.

Remove from the heat and once cooled a little, blitz. I use a Nutribullet so I allow the soup to cool right down.

Once blended return to the pan and bring back to the heat and once warmed through dish up. Enjoy with crusty bread or naan.

Here are a few other vegetarian friendly soup recipes you might like:

Restorative Green Soup

Thai Sweet Potato Soup

Roasted Tomato & Basil Soup

Red Pepper Soup

Curried Parsnip and Spinach Soup

Leek, Potato and Cauliflower Soup

Simple and Skinny Butternut Squash Soup

This soup recipe is so easy, but yields such a delicious couple of bowl fulls, and is very low calorie, if you're watching your calorific intake - the below comes in at 276 calories, and is enough for two portions.

It's completely devoid of any meat or meat products, so counts if you're adopting a vegetarian or even vegan diet, and is surprisingly satisfying.

Simple and Skinny Butternut Squash Soup

Here's how:

• 260g butternut squash, roasted
• Drizzle olive oil
• 1 white onion
• 1 clove of garlic
• Fresh ginger root (about two cm)
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 Knorr Vegetable Stock Pot made up with 600ml water

Firstly take a small butternut squash and roast whole for 30 minutes. Then cut straight down the middle and remove all the flesh, and set aside for the moment.

Drizzle the olive oil into a pan and place on a low heat.

Peel and dice the onion and crush the garlic and add to the pan to saute.

In the meantime, peel and slice the ginger and make up the stock.

Once the onion and garlic has softened, add the butternut squash, the ginger and the cayenne pepper and pour over the stock.

You can salt here, but the stock should provide that for you.

Cook for fifteen to twenty minutes, and then blitz. (If using a Nutribullet like I do to blitz the soup, make sure you allow the soup to cool a little first).

Return to the heat to warm up then serve. Enjoy!

Here are some other vegetarian soup options:

Winter Vegetable
Curried Parsnip and Spinach Soup
Red Pepper Soup
Roasted Tomato & Basil Soup
Creamy Mushroom Soup without Cream
Restorative Green Soup
Leek, Potato and Cauliflower Soup
Mexican Mushroom Soup

Mexican Mushroom Soup

This is a gorgeously moreish and filling soup - intense in mushroom flavour with a warm smoky spiced punch cutting through. 

This recipe is very loosely based on Thomasina Mier's 'Herby Mushroom Soup from the book 'Mexican Food Made Simple'. I've adapted it due to ingredient substitutions according to what I had in stock, and also out of convenience. I decided to inject some smoky charred flavour with chipotle paste and paprika, rather than first dry roasting the tomatoes, chilli and onion for speed, and I cooked everything in the one pan rather than three, mainly to reduce the clearing up process after a long day with my two girls. The final soup was utterly delicious but I will try the original at one point.

I also used a scotch bonnet chilli rather than jalopeno - not conventionally Mexican but it is Caribbean in origin and it did work. 

Mexican /Mushroom Soup

This makes x4 adult portions as a main meal. 

Here's how:

• 1 large white onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 scotch bonnet
• 3 tomatoes
• 600g mushrooms (try and use a variety if you can)
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1.2 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp ground anise
• 1.5 tsp chipotle paste
• Small bunch coriander leaves and stalks
• 1 tbsp rapeseed oil
• 1 litre vegetable stock

Optional:

• Sour cream or creme fraiche

Firstly pour the oil into a saucepan and place on a medium heat. 

Finely dice the onion and mince the garlic and add to the pan. Carefully chop the scotch bonnet, removing the seeds unless you're an absolute chilli fiend and add to the pan. Make sure to wash your hands after handling these.

Roughly chop the tomatoes and add to the pan. Throw in the salt, pepper, cumin, paprika, anise and chipotle and allow to cook down for a few minutes, stirring gently. This will provide the base flavour for your soup.

In the meantime rough chop the mushrooms and add to the pan. Pour over the stock and add the coriander leaves and stalks too. 

Slowly cook until the soup comes to the boil, then simmer for ten minutes and remove from the heat. 

Allow to cool for at least 20 minutes and then blitz with a blender. 

Re-heat until warmed through and serve with a teaspoon full of creme fraiche or sour cream and some buttered bread. Enjoy!

If you're keen on more soup recipes here are a few more:

Asparagus Soup with Crispy Bacon
Roasted Tomato and Basil Soup
Curried Parsnip and Spinach Soup
Red Pepper Soup
Chicken Noodle Soup with Pak Choi
Vegetable Soup
Thai Sweet Potato Soup
Chunky Lentil Bacon and Kale Soup
Skinny Broccoli and Fennel Soup
Creamy Mushroom Soup with No Cream
Quick Pork Noodle Soup
Leek Potato and Cauliflower Soup

Restorative Green Soup

This soup is so cleansing and restorative, I rely on it as the start of any detox or diet, especially if I've had a period of over-indulgence. The multiple green vegetables combined with the healing ginger and garlic and the Indian spices really do aid with digestion and give my stomach a good kick-start. 

I always use broccoli and spinach, but you could use greens, cabbage, kale or whatever you have to hand. 

The below makes a large batch, of which you can freeze some and defrost as and when required. 

Restorative Green Soup

Here's how:

• 1 head broccoli
• Pack of spinach, washed
• Cup of peas
• 2 large spring onions
• 2 sticks celery
• Fresh ginger root - about 40g or 3-4cm long
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp garam masala
• Pinch sea salt
• 1 tsp back pepper
• 1/2 lime
• Handful fresh coriander and parsley
• 800ml water
• 1 tbsp olive oil

Firstly add the olive oil to a large, heavy bottomed pan and place on a low heat.

Slice the spring onions, celery and garlic cloves and add to the pan.

Peel and slice the ginger and add to the pan - allow all to soften slightly,

Now add the cumin, salt, pepper and garam masala and squeeze over the half of lime juice. Allow to cook for a few minutes, the soup base should take on a brown hue.

In the meantime, chop the broccoli into florets, and wash the spinach, if it isn't already prepared. 

Add the broccoli and peas into the pan and allow to fry for a moment or two, then pour over the water and allow to cook for ten to fifteen minutes, or until the broccoli is tender to touch with a fork. 

Now add the spinach and the coriander and parsley - no need to chop, and stir through, allowing to cook for a couple of minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool for a while. 

Restorative Green Soup

Blitz in a blender or Nutribullet until smooth, and then return to the pan to reheat, and ladle into soup bowls to serve. Enjoy!

Here are some other soup recipe ideas you might like:
Chunky Lentil, Bacon and Kale Soup
Red Pepper Soup
Curried Parsnip and Spinach Soup
Thai Sweet Potato Soup
Chicken Noodle Soup with Pak Choi
Vegetable Soup
Asparagus Soup with Crispy Bacon
Roasted Tomato and Basil Soup
Leek Potato and Cauliflower Soup
Restorative Chicken Broth

Roasted Tomato and Basil Soup

There is something incredibly comforting about a homemade tomato soup, and this version, with roasted tomatoes, really is a winner. Gorgeous in the summer with fresh, ripe tomatoes - in my case from my Dad's allotment, it's such a treat and so easy to make - it beats any shop-bought versions hands down.

Roasting the tomatoes, intensifies the flavour and gives that lovely, slightly charred, smoky element that makes for a delicious tasting bowl.

This is great for a family meal, with some hunks of fresh, crusty, buttered bread, or a simple light lunch alone too.

If you are watching your calorie or fat intake, simply omit from adding the crème fraiche or the Parmigiana shavings.

Roasted Tomato and Basil Soup



Here's how:

• 600g fresh tomatoes
• 1 carrot
• 1 stick celery
• 1 white onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• Pinch salt
• Pinch garlic salt
• Pinch black pepper
• Pinch sugar
• 3 tbsp. olive oil
• 1.5 pints vegetable stock
• 2 tbsp. crème fraiche
• Handful basil leaves and stalks
• Handful Parmigiana shavings to scatter over the soup

Firstly pre-heat the oven to 180-200. Place the tomatoes into a baking dish. I used a mixture here and halved the larger ones, putting them skin side down. Drizzle over 2 tbsp. of olive oil - use a good quality if you have it, it will make a difference. Now scatter over the tomatoes the garlic salt, oregano, sugar and black pepper and place into the oven for about an hour, or until juice has been exuded from the tomatoes and they are slightly charred - but not blackened.

Tomatoes pre-roasting



Roasted tomatoes



In the meantime prepare the 'base' of the soup, by firstly peeling and dicing the onion and mincing the garlic. Peeling and chopping up the carrot into small pieces and slicing the celery. All of this can be added to a heavy-bottomed pan with a tablespoon more of olive oil and placed onto a low heat until all has been softened, about five minutes. Then turn off the heat and set aside until the tomatoes are roasted.


Place the tomatoes, and any escaping juice in the dish into the saucepan now, and make up the vegetable stock, then pour over. Place the basil stalks into the soup and season liberally with black pepper and sea salt. Now place back on the heat and cook for 30 minutes then remove from the heat and allow to cool

Blitz to a smooth texture and return to the heat. Just before serving add the crème fraiche and most of the basil leaves and stir through, and once dished up into soup bowls, add the shavings of cheese and a few extra basil leaves for garnish. Enjoy!

Some other soup recipes you may enjoy:


Asparagus and Crispy Bacon Soup
Red Pepper Soup
Vegetable Soup
Curried Parsnip and Spinach Soup
Chicken Noodle Soup with Pak Choi Soup
Thai Sweet Potato Soup
Chunky Lentil Bacon and Kale Soup
Winter Vegetable Soup
Quick Pork Noodle Soup
Skinny Broccoli and Fennel Soup
Creamy Mushroom Soup without Cream

Chunky Lentil, Bacon and Kale Soup

This is my final and favourite post from my 'Seven Days of Soup' challenge - the Lentil, Bacon and Kale Soup was utterly delicious and a different version to the one I often make.

Keeping it chunky really made it feel more hearty and more of a meal than some of the more watery soups and it felt like a real, restorative, robust treat during my week long liquid diet. I've made it again since, and this will firmly be one of my staple soups going forward.

Chunky Lentil, Bacon and Kale Soup



Here's how:

• 2 rashers smoked bacon
• 250g red split lentils
• 1 white onion
• 1 clove garlic
• 2 celery sticks
• 1 large carrot
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp dried rosemary
• 2 litres chicken stock
• Pinch sea salt
• Pinch black pepper
• Handful bay leaves
• 1 pack kale
• Water to top up as necessary
• 1 tbsp coconut oil

Firstly place the lentils into a sieve and give a very thorough rinse to remove any excess dirt or starch from the lentils. Keep running water pouring over if possible whilst you prepare the other parts of the soup.

Place the coconut oil into the pan and onto a low heat. Cut the bacon into small pieces and add to the pan to slowly cook through.

Peel and finely chop the onion, mince the garlic and finely dice the celery stick and add all the pan. Throw in the thyme and rosemary and season generously.

Peel and dice the carrot into small cubes and add to the pan with the lentils. Cook like this for five minutes.

Now pour over the stock and give a thorough stir through and up the heat to a medium. Add the bay leaves now too.

You will need to keep an eye on the soup throughout cooking and remove the 'cooking scum' or the weird bubbly mess that will rise to the top of the pan. Cook for a good 30-40 minutes, then remove the bay leaves.

Now remove about 2 ladle fulls of the soup and set aside. Once cooled, this will be blitzed then returned to the pan, so there is a real combination of textures. Taste at this point and add salt and or pepper as required.

Once the blitzed and chunky part of the soup are combined, return to the heat and add the washed kale and allow to cook for 7-8 more minutes before dishing up into deep bowls. Enjoy!

The other soups I enjoyed during my 'Seven Days of Soup' included:

Asparagus and Crispy Bacon Soup
Red Pepper Soup
Vegetable Soup
Curried Parsnip and Spinach Soup
Chicken Noodle Soup with Pak Choi Soup
Thai Sweet Potato Soup

Vegetable Soup

Another one of the soups I enjoyed during my 'Seven Days of Soup' challenge whereby I took on souping and juicing for one week, to shift some baby weight before our family holiday to Spain (7lbs in one week is not to be sniffed at).

This particular soup though is a fail safe, and can be adapted to whatever you may have in the fridge or larder. I make this regularly and batch cook so it makes a family dinner, but then the same again, which goes in the freezer for another week. Soup freezes really well!

Feel free to adapt to the ingredients you have to hand but I suggest always using either a white or sweet potato, a carrot or parsnip to make up the 'bulk' of the soup. This recipe is suitable for vegetarians too.

Vegetable Soup



Here's how:

• 1 white potato
• 1 carrot
• 1 parsnip
• 2 celery sticks
• 1 leek
• cupful peas
• 1 onion
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 tsp celery salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1.5 pints vegetable stock
• 1 tbsp rapeseed or vegetable oil
• Handful bay leaves

Firstly pour in the olive oil into the pan and place on a gentle heat. Peel and dice the onion and mince the garlic and add to the pan.

Slice the celery and leek and they can go into the pan too.

Peel the potato and wash thoroughly, add to the pan. Do the same with the carrot and parsnip.

Make up the vegetable stock and pour over. Give a stir and season accordingly with the salt, pepper and bay leaves.

Cook for 30 minutes until the vegetables are soft to touch with a fork.

Remove the bay leaves and allow to cool slightly. Then blitz with a hand blender or a Nutribullet or alternative blender, return to the pan and re-heat. Enjoy!


The other soups I enjoyed during my 'Seven Days of Soup' included:

Asparagus and Crispy Bacon Soup
Red Pepper Soup
Curried Parsnip and Spinach Soup
Chicken Noodle Soup with Pak Choi Soup
Thai Sweet Potato Soup
Chunky Lentil, Bacon and Kale Soup