Rather than a simple creamy soup I thought I’d add the beans to add some texture and interest. it wored well and just the thing to warm you up on a snowy February weekend.

This makes about 4 bowls
Knob of butter
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion – chopped
1 teaspoon dried or fresh thyme
2 3- small potatoes – peeled and diced
1 head of celery – remove the leafy parts and roughly chop the rest
Vegetable stock
100 ml single cream
1x 400g tin cannellini beans – drained
Salt and black pepper to taste

Heat the oil and butter in a large pan. Add the onion and fry gently until starting to soften. Add the thyme, celery and potato and fry for a minute or two, stirring to make sure everything is nicely coated in the oil and butter.

Add enough stock to just cover the vegetables. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 20-30 minutes until everything is soft.

Blend until smooth then sieve to remove the stringy bits of the celery.

Put the sieved soup back in the pan, add the cream and beans then heat slowly. Add salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Serve hot.

Serves 3 – 4 people

2 tablespoons olive oil
Small knob of butter
1 onion – chopped
1 clove garlic – finely chopped
4-5 courgettes – cut into rough chunks
2 teaspoons pesto
100g creamy blue cheese – gorgonzola or dolcelatte work well
Vegetable stock
Salt and pepper

Heat the butter and oil in a large saucepan. When the butter has melted add the onion and fry gently until soft and translucent. Now add the garlic and continue to fry for a further 2 minutes. Add the courgettes, stir, cover and cook for 5-6 minutes until the courgettes are soft. Now add the pesto and just enough stock to come to the top of the vegetables. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 15 minutes until everthing is very tender. Remove from the heat and add the cheese. Blend the osup until smooth. I use a stick blender but you could transfer everything to a food processor, blend and put back in the pan – it all depends on how much you like washing up.

Heat gently and season to taste.

This makes enough soup to feed four or five.

1 medium pumpkin or butternut squash – peeled, deseeded and diced
oil for frying – I used raw coconut oil
2 oinions – peeled and chopped
3 cloves garlic – finely chopped
½ teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon curry powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 red chili – chopped – deseed it if you don’t like the fire
175g pudding rice
1 litre vegetable stock
2-3 slices stale bread
1 tablespoon za’atar
3-4 tablespoons pumpkin seeds
salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil in a large pan then add the onion and fry until soft (about 5 minutes) then add the garlic, chili and spices, fry for a further 2 minutes then add the pumpkin or butternut. Add the stock and bring to the boil. When boiing add half the rice, cover and reduce heat. Simmer for half an hour.

While the soup is simmering, cook the rest of the rice in boiling water for 15 minutes. Drain and set to one side.

When the soup is done and the pumpkin cooked through, remove from the heat and blend. Add the drained rice and return to the heat to keep warm.

Take a large frying pan, add some more oil then fry the diced stale bread. When the bread starts to colour add the pumpkin seeds and za’atar. Fry for a further minute or two stirring all the time.

Serve the soup with hot croutons.

This should feed about 4-6 depending on how much running around you’ve been doing.

2 tablespoons coconut or sunflower oil
Approx ¾ of a smallish pumpkin – peeled, deseeded and cut into 1cm dice
1x400g tin of coconut milk
2 red chillies – finely sliced
About a 1cm piece of ginger – finely chopped
3 cloves garlic – finely chopped
1 teaspoon each of ground coriander, ground cumin, sugar and salt
1 tablespoon soy sauce
Juice of 1 lime
Handful of mange tout
Large bunch coriander – chopped roughly
Vegetable stock
Ramen noodles
3 spring onions – finely sliced

Heat the oil in a large, heavy bottomed saucepan then add the ginger, garlic and chili and fry gently until starting to soften. Now add the coconut milk salt, cumin, ground coriander, sugar and soy sauce. Add vegetable stock – about the amount that would fill the empty can of coconut milk. When starting to boil add the diced pumpkin. Simmer for 10 minutes then add the mange tout, lime juice and chopped coriander. Simmer for a further 10 minutes. Then add the ramen noodle which need only a minute. Check the seasoning and adjust as necessary. Serve in bowls while piping hot and sprinkle a few chopped spring onions over the top.

Serves 4-6
1 onion – halved and finely sliced
1 fennel bulb – finely sliced
120ml or so of olive oil
1 carrot – peeled, halved lengthwise and sliced
2-3 sticks of celery – finely sliced
1 tablespoon tomato puree
250ml white wine
1 x 400g tin tomatoes
1 tablespoon oregano
1 tablespoon thyme
1 tablespoons chopped parsley
2 bay leaves
2 teaspoons sugar
1 litre vegetable stock
approx 160g stale bread – sourdough, ciabatta, anything will do really – remove the crusts
1 x 400g tin chick peas – drained
salt, pepper
4 tablespoons pesto

Heat 3 tablespoons of the oil in a large pan and gently fry the onion and fennel until softened. Add the carrot and celery, soften for a few minutes then add the tomato puree and wine and bring to boil for a couple of minutes.

Next add the tomatoes, herbs, sugar, stock and some salt and pepper. Bring to the boil again, cover and simmer for half an hour.

While you wait, break the bread into rough chunks, toss in a little oil and salt and place in a roasting tray in the the oven at 180C for 10 minutes until dry. Set aside.

Now drain the chick peas, mash them slightly with a fork so some are crushed while others remian whole then add to the simmering soup. Once the soupd has simmered for a further 5 minutes add the bread, stir, cook for a further 5 minutes then add salt and pepper to taste.

Divide into 4-6 bowls and finish with a blob of pesto and a drizzle of olive oil.

A cross between a soup and a stew this is one of those few dishes I make that doesn’t have garlic or cheese (or both) in them. I ate this two days running. Day one as a stew with saffron infused basmati rice and day two as a soup with olive focaccia. My advice is to make too much as it tastes better if left in the fridge for a day.

3-4 tablespoons good olive oil
1 onion – finely chopped
2 sticks celery – finely chopped
½ yellow pepper – diced
½ red pepper – diced
1 sweet potato – peeled and diced
1 chilli – finely chopped – de-seeded if you don’t want it too hot
beans – I used about 40 french beans and the beans from about 20 borlottis
4-5 tomatoes – chopped
a tablespoon each of thyme, oregano and basil
vegetable stock
teaspoon salt

Heat the oil in a large casserole dish then fry the onion and celery until soft. Add the sweet potato, peppers, chili and herbs and continue to fry, stirring occasionally until the peppers soften. Add the tomatoes and beans, stir for a few minutes until the tomatoes start to break up then add enough stock to just come up to the same height as the vegetables. Put the lid on and transfer to the oven at 180C. Leave in the oven for about an hour. Remove and add salt as required.

Having made the soup, it looked a little pale, especially as all my soup bowls are white, so I jazzed it up with a hot and spicy red pepper salsa.

For the soup
Knob butter
1 onion – chopped
1 clove garlic – chopped
2 sticks celery – chopped
1 celeriac – peeled and diced
1 medium potato – peeled and diced
Vegetable stock
Splash of single cream
Salt

For the salsa
2 roasted red peppers – from a jar
2 cloves garlic – from the same jar
2 small dried red chilis – or you could use chopped fresh chili
pinch of salt
black pepper
olive oil

Melt a large knob of butter in a large pan then fry the onion, garlic and celery gently until it starts to soften. Add the celeriac and potato, cover with stock, bring to boil then simmer until all the vegetables are soft. Blitz in a blender or puree with a stick blender then return to pan. Add a generous splash of sibgle cream and season to taste. Heat gently.

To make the salsa, simple put everything in a blender and whiz until smooth – adding olive oil as you go to ensure it isn’t to lumpy.

Serve the soup with a blob of salsa in the middle.

couple of tablespoons olive oil
1 onion – chopped
1 clove garlic – chopped
2 sticks celery – finely chopped
1 red pepper – diced
1 x 800g tin tomatoes – blended until smoooth
1 teaspoon paprika
1 whole red of green chili – sliced
vegetable stock
salt
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 x 400g tin butter beans – drained and discard loose skins
1 x 400g tin red kidney beans – drained

Heat oil, fry onion, garlic, celery and oregano until starting to soften. Add the pepper and chili, stir and fry for about 5 minutes. Now add the blended tomatoes. Add a teaspoon of Marigold bouillon then fill the tomato tin with water and add the water to the soup.

Add the beans, bring everyting to a gentle simmer and simmer with a lid on for around 20-30 minutes. Season with salt and serve piping hot.

Put your oven onto 220C. Take a large roasting pan and place 3 red peppers (halved and deseeded), 5 whole tomatoes and 6 unpeeled cloves of garlic on it. Drizzle with oil, add a little salt and pepper, then roast for about 30 minutes. Nw take 3 red chilis, half them lengthwise and deseed them. Add to the roasting vegetables and close the oven door for a further 20 minutes.

When everything is charred and wrinkly, remove from the oven and place in a pan with 900ml of vegetable stock. Bring to boil then simmer for about 15 minutes. Let it cool a little then whiz it all up in a blender or with a stick blender.

Take a handful of mint leaves. Chop finely and mix with some olive oil.

To serve, put the soup in a bowl, top with some of the minty oil and some crumbled feta cheese.

Reminder to self: Buy some new soup bowls

Couple of tablespoons sunflower oil
1 large onion – chopped
1 clove garlic – chopped
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon turmeric
600 ml vegetable stock
1 x 400ml can coconut milk
1 cauliflower – cut into florets
handful fresh coriander – roughly chopped
½ teaspoon salt
optional hard boiled eggs – halved or quartered

Heat the oil in a pan, then fry off the garlic and onion until soft. Add the spices and fry for a few seconds then add the stock and coconut milk. Tip in the cauliflower and bring to boil. Simmer until cauliflower just soft then add salt, coriander and eggs.

Serve with hot buttered nan bread