A great way to use up elderly vegetables in your fridge – provided there’s lots of tomato and onion, you can do anything with the recipe. Why bother buying expensive soups with loads of added salt and sugar, when you can make this tasty nutritious soup at home?
Ingredients:
- 1 thinly sliced leek
- 1 diced onion
- A stick of celery
- Garlic
- At least one carrot
- Four finely chopped tomatoes
- Tomato puree
- A small amount of Savoy cabbage
- A few chilli peppers, whole
- A well-stocked spice rack
- A small quantity of dried spaghetti or other dried pasta
Heat some olive oil in a large saucepan, and gently fry the sliced leek, onion, and the celery, sliced small. Fry until the ingredients start to brown, then reduce the heat and add a pint of cold water, followed by two crushed cloves of garlic, a diced carrot, four finely chopped tomatoes, a small amount of Savoy cabbage, then a small can of tomato puree, a generous pinch of mixed Italian herbs, the chillies (don’t break the skin of the chillies, and take them out when you’re happy with the heat of the soup!) and, if desired, a vegetable stock cube.
Bring to the boil before reducing to a simmer, and cook for an hour or so. Taste the soup regularly, and adjust the seasoning as necessary; add diced potato for thickness, or more tomato puree or vegetable stock for a stronger flavour. A spoonful of tamarind will add some nice heat and a few fruity notes.
You could serve the soup after an hour’s cooking; I find that the taste really matures if the soup is allowed to cool overnight before reheating it when you’re ready to serve, taking care to make sure it’s piping hit of course.
Before serving, strain out all the vegetables. Keep back a few bite-size chunks, which you can add back to the soup if desired. Chop up or blend the rest of the chunks and add those back to the soup, which will not be a bit thicker. Take care to remove any inedible pieces like bay leaves or whole chillies. Break a little spaghetti into small strands and add to the soup, cooking for another ten minutes (or long enough for the spaghetti to soften.)