Creamy Celeriac Soup

It’s been absolutely freezing outside today – the kind of January day when soup is required and nothing but soup will do. Once this morning’s biting wind had died down it started to snow like billy-o this afternoon – it’s settled but there isn’t enough to make a snowman. It looks very pretty though.

I picked up a decent sized celeriac when we were shopping yesterday – I’m not sure what I was planning to do with it. It’s funny stuff, celeriac, not the most attractive of vegetables; it looks more like something you'd use to prop the back door open! Looks aren't everything, though; it has a fabulous earthy taste - like celery with delusions of grandeur. I thought I’d give some soup a whirl for our lunch.

It worked out really well, very creamy and very warming; perfect with a couple of slices of homemade seedy bread.

750g celeriac
1 medium onion
1 medium floury potato
2 sticks of celery
1tbsp olive oil
1lt stock
250ml milk

chopped parsley
few grinds of black pepper


Run a peeler down the sticks of celery to take off any stringy bits, then chop roughly. Peel and chop the rest of the veg.

Heat the oil gently in a large pan; add all the veg, lower the heat and put a lid on the pan. Sweat the veg for 10 mins then add the stock; bring to a boil, turn the heat to a simmer and cook for 20 mins until tender.

Take off the heat, add the milk and blitz until completely smooth and silky, adding a little more stock if necessary.

Reheat gently and serve with a sprinkle of chopped parsley and a good grind of black pepper.

Carrot and Coriander Soup

Our little veg plot is almost empty and it's looking a bit sorry for itself but we still have lots of lovely carrots waiting to be used. Now we’re well into October, and the weather is feeling decidedly autumnal, it’s time for soup!

It’s not particularly cold here yet (give it time - it will be!) but it’s pouring with rain today and we’ve even had lightning and a couple of rumbles of thunder; it’s also so dark that I had to put the lights on because I couldn’t see to type. It’s 3pm….

This was a really nice soup; fresh and light with a subtle, rather than in-your-face, taste of coriander. When I say fresh, the carrots went from garden to bowl in under an hour – now you don’t get fresher than that!



1 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tsp ground coriander
a large floury potato, about 250g, peeled and chopped
650g carrots, peeled and chopped
1.5l stock
a good handful of chopped coriander

Heat the oil in a large saucepan and sauté the onion for about 5 minutes until softened but not coloured; add the garlic and continue to sauté for another minute before adding the potato, ground coriander, carrots and stock.

Bring to the boil then lower the heat, put a lid on and simmer for 20 minutes. Blitz with a hand blender and stir in the chopped coriander.

Sprinkle with a little more chopped coriander and serve with plenty of crusty bread.

Serves 6 (I froze two double portions)

Curried Cauliflower Soup

Last week I bought an enormous cauliflower for the princely sum of 50p at the veg stall on the market; having used some in a cheesy cauli and broccoli bake I still had more than half of the monster left. When in doubt…soup!

I’m going through a period of curry type spices in almost everything I cook at the moment; it could have something to do with the on-going weather which is cold, damp, grey and miserable. All I seem to want right now is food to warm me up from the inside so I decided to use my usual curried parsnip soup recipe for this and just subbed the cauli for the parsnip; despite my slight misgivings it worked really well and, in fact, I think I actually prefer the cauli version.

I should warn you this makes quite a lot of soup but it freezes well.

1 tbsp olive oil

1 large onion, peeled

2 cloves garlic, peeled

1 medium potato, peeled

2 sticks of celery, finely chopped

700g cauliflower in florets
1 tbsp curry paste
1.5l stock

chopped coriander

 

Fry the chopped onion gently in the oil in a really large saucepan for 5 minutes; add the chopped garlic and fry for another minute or two. Stir in the curry paste then stir in the chopped potato, celery and cauliflower florets (reserve one cauli floret); stir to coat in the curry paste then pour in the stock and bring to the boil. Turn the heat down, put the lid on and simmer for 20-25 minutes.

Divide the reserved cauli floret into tiny pieces and blanch in boiling water for a minute or two.

When the soup is cooked blitz with a stick blender until smooth, you may need a little more stock, and serve with a scattering of chopped coriander (you'll have noticed I had to use parsley - forgot to buy any coriander...duh!) and a few tiny blanched cauli pieces.

 

Serves 6 (or even 8) generously

Butternut and Carrot Soup

Before Christmas I put all the fruit and veg I’d bought in a cardboard box and popped it outside in the garage to give me more fridge space. I think I may have had a brainstorm because I seem to have overbought somewhat….

We’re still ploughing our way through a small mountain of clementines and quite why I bought so many carrots is anybody’s guess, but I still seem to have masses of them; don’t even ask what I was going to do with the butternut squash I discovered because I can’t remember! Thank goodness root veg keep so well in a cold place.

My usual way of using up a glut of veg is to make soup and that’s exactly what I did a couple of days ago. It was actually quite nice to have something simple after all the excesses of the festive season.

1 medium butternut squash
400g carrots
1 large red onion
1tbsp olive oil
1.5 litres vegetable stock
good pinch of dried chilli flakes
½ tsp dried thyme
50g red lentils
a few snipped chives


Peel and deseed the squash then peel the carrots and chop both into 3cm chunks; peel the onion and slice it into eighths through the root end. Put all the veg into a large plastic bag together with the olive oil, hold the top tightly closed and shake well to distribute the oil; put the veg in a single layer on a large baking tray and roast at 200C for 30 minutes until tender and just beginning to char at the edges.

Scoop the veg into a large saucepan and add the lentils, stock, thyme and chilli flakes; stir well, bring to the boil and simmer for 15-20 minutes until the lentils are completely soft.

Blitz with a stick blender until smooth.

(I was going to put a spoonful of crème fraiche on this but in the event I decided to go with a sprinkle of snipped chives…better for the waistline!)

Makes 6 good portions

Broccoli and Stilton Soup

It’s been absolutely flippin’ freezing here today! Our car is actually black but, parked on the drive this morning, it was completely white – it was quite an impressive frost. Not the best day for putting up the outside Christmas lights, but at least it was dry as well as beautifully sunny.

As soon as the weather gets cold my thoughts turn to soup; there’s nothing so quite so warming and comforting as a bowl of hot soup and a chunk of fresh bread.

This is one that Mr Simply Veg has wanted me to make for some time (he likes blue cheese and I don’t; although I love most cheeses there is just something about the blue variety that gives me the willies!) so I finally gave in. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to eat and enjoy a piece of Stilton at the end of a meal but in this it was lovely. The cheese flavour wasn’t overpowering but it gave a real savouriness to what could otherwise have been a fairly bland soup. Looks like lunch is sorted for the next couple of days...

1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 sticks celery, finely chopped
1 large floury potato, diced
1l stock
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 large head of broccoli
½ tsp dried thyme
125g Stilton, crumbled
1 tbsp crème fraiche

Sauté the onion, celery and potato for 5 minutes in the olive oil in a large saucepan; chop the thick stalk off the broccoli, dice and add to the other vegetables in the pan along with the crushed garlic and sauté for a further couple of minutes. Add the stock, bring to the boil and simmer for 10-15 minutes until the veg are almost tender.

Roughly chop the rest of the broccoli, add to the pan with the thyme and simmer for another 5 minutes. Blitz with a stick blender until smooth, adding a little more stock if necessary.

Keep back a tablespoon of the crumbled Stilton for garnish, then stir the rest of it and the crème fraiche into the soup.

This was based loosely on BBC Good Food's recipe.

Serves 6

Roasted Butternut Soup

This is a really nice soup, very tasty and warming and such a lovely autumnal colour; we had some for lunch today after a couple of hours of raking up yet more leaves from the garden.

Despite my best intentions last week I didn’t get round to making this until the weekend because I’ve been trying to empty out the freezer a bit and, having found several frozen blocks of various soups lurking in there, I wanted to get those out of the way before making any more.

I’ve had a lovely clear out and a tidy-up of the freezer; it’s now ready for stacking with nice Christmassy bits and pieces plus a few things like mushroom duxelles and red cabbage which will both be needed on Christmas day. I also want to make and freeze some mince pies and I’ll probably make another batch of Not Sausage Rolls and a few cheese and onion quiches as well.

Maybe I used to be a squirrel in a former life – this is obviously my version of storing nuts for the winter!

1 large butternut squash
2 tbsp olive oil
4 cloves garlic, unpeeled
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
2 onions, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
2 sticks celery, chopped
few leaves of fresh sage
1.5l vegetable stock

Cut the unpeeled squash in half, discarding the seeds, and put into a large roasting tin; drizzle with half the olive oil and put the thyme leaves and whole garlic cloves in the seed cavity. Roast in a hot oven for 45 minutes until soft and just starting to brown at the edges.

Meanwhile, put the onions, carrots, celery, sage and remaining olive oil into a large saucepan and cook gently for 10-15 minutes until softened.  Add the stock and bring to the boil; simmer for 20 minutes until the veg are tender.

When the squash is cooked, scoop the flesh from the skin and add it to the stock along with the garlic squeezed out of its papery skin. Simmer for a further 5 minutes then blitz with a stick blender until absolutely smooth. You might need to add a bit more stock if it’s too thick.

Nice with a swirl of single cream or a blob of crème fraiche.

Makes 6 generous portions and freezes well.

Spicy Red Lentil & Coconut Soup

I’m sorry if the blog looks a bit soupy these days, it’s just that it’s been so cold recently that I don’t seem to want to eat much else. If I knew who to complain to about this perishing weather I’d be firing off an email and giving them a piece of my mind!

I’ll be so glad when the first new leaves of Spring start showing, I’ve had enough of winter now; I want longer days, I want warmth and I want to be outside planting vegetable seeds so that I can watch them grow. Oh, and I want to sit in the garden with bruschetta and olives for lunch.

But while I wait for all that….I’m eating soup.

1 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, finely chopped

1 carrot, finely chopped

2 fat cloves of garlic, crushed

1 level tsp ground cumin

1 level tsp ground coriander

1 level tsp garam masala

2 bay leaves

good pinch of dried chilli flakes

1.5l vegetable stock

200g red lentils

200ml coconut milk

1 tbsp chopped coriander

Heat the oil in a large saucepan and sauté the onion and carrot over a medium heat for 5 minutes; add the garlic, spices and bay leaves and sauté for a minute or two until the spices become aromatic. Stir in the stock and add the red lentils. Bring to the boil, stir well, then turn the heat right down and simmer gently for 20 minutes with the lid on.

Take off the heat and add the coconut milk. Remove the bay leaves then put half the soup in another saucepan or a large bowl and blitz with a stick blender; add the blitzed soup to the chunky soup, reheat for a couple of minutes and stir in the chopped coriander.

Enjoy with plenty of fresh bread.

Serves 4-6

Spiced Cauliflower and Almond Soup

I’ve rarely met a soup I didn’t like and I liked the look of this one as soon as I saw it! It was the perfect lunch for a damp chilly January day with a chunk of fresh seedy bread followed by yogurt and fruit.

Needless to say I didn’t follow the recipe to the letter (I never do!) but I always think the odd tweak here and there is a good thing. I added a large chopped onion and two crushed cloves of garlic to the pan before adding the cauliflower; I also needed to add quite a bit more stock than the recipe stated, probably about another 500ml, it would have been the consistency of cake-mix otherwise!

Mr Simply Veg has been struggling with a cold for the past week or more; he said this warmed him up nicely and the harissa helped clear his head. So there you are - food and medicine all-in-one, what more could you ask for? 

Lentil and Chestnut Soup

I can’t believe it’s the 1^st of January today and the start of another New Year; I’m still wondering where 2011 went, I seem to have blinked and missed it!

There are lots of superstitions centred on the first day of the year and, although I don’t usually have much time for that sort of mumbo-jumbo, I was taken by the fact that many of these beliefs focus on prosperity. I don’t know about you, but I think anything that might bring me a bit closer to winning the Lottery sounds like a very good thing, so I thought I’d join in, just in case!

Apparently lentils, as well as peas and beans, are symbolic of money, so I scouted around for a nice lentil soup recipe and came across one from Nigella. I’ve changed it a bit to accommodate the ingredients that I had to hand but it still tastes brilliant and it also made a goodly amount which will give at least six portions. It had the added benefit of using up half a bag of chestnuts lurking in the freezer.

Now then, I’ve had my bowl of lentil soup, when does all that good luck and prosperity start coming my way…?

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 medium carrot, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

2 sticks celery, chopped

2 cloves garlic, crushed

200g red lentils

200g frozen chestnuts

1.5 litre stock

crème fraîche and chopped parsley, to serve

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan and sauté the onion, carrot and celery for five minutes, add the garlic and cook for another minute then add the lentils, chestnuts and stock. Bring to the boil then turn the heat down to the merest simmer, put the lid on and leave it to murmur away for half an hour.

Take off the heat and blitz with a stick blender.

Top with a spoonful of crème fraîche and chopped parsley to serve.

Leek and Potato Soup

Cooking has sort of fallen by the wayside for almost a couple of weeks; I started off with a cold then managed to pick up a stomach bug (deep joy!) and I've now got another cold; when I cough I sound like a sealion…so attractive!

I’ve just about cleaned out all the soups I had stored in the freezer – I seem to have lived on soup and toast recently – so I’ve had a soup-making session in the kitchen this morning. Leek and potato is very comforting and easy on a delicate tum whilst tomato and red lentil should pep up my poor old jaded tastebuds.

Two weeks ago I was planning to make my Christmas cake and do a bit a baking for the freezer; hopefully next week I shall return to the land of the living and get cracking.

Early night for me I think.

25g butter

4 medium leeks

1 medium onion, peeled and chopped

1 large floury potato, peeled and diced

1l stock

1tbsp crème fraiche

a little chopped parsley

Melt the butter gently in a large saucepan; trim off the greenest part of the leeks (keep it for making stock) then finely chop the rest of the leeks and add them to the pan along with the chopped onion and diced potato. Turn the vegetables to coat them with the melted butter, put the lid on and let them sweat over a very low heat for 15 minutes. Add the stock and bring to the boil; simmer gently for a further 15 minutes.

Blitz the soup like billy-o with a stick blender until it’s silky smooth then stir in the crème fraiche.

Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve piping hot.

French Onion Soup

Before I get down to the serious business of soup, I thought you might like to see a picture of some of our gorgeous homegrown onions which are currently loitering in the shed and drying out nicely. It’s given the shed quite an exotic feel, I think! Considering the strange weather we’ve had this summer I think they did rather well.

This soup is one of those things that I used to make quite regularly in my pre-veggie days. The early veggie versions I made weren’t very good, though, to be honest; I think I was trying to recreate a taste instead of trying to make something which was just as good but different. I didn’t make it at all for some years, by which time I was ready to embrace the new flavours rather than remember the old. After much tweaking and fiddling this is the result.

Couple of points to note:

1. The cheese for the croutes should really be Gruyere but vegetarian Gruyere seems to be as rare as hen’s teeth so I used some good Cheddar instead.

2. You’ll have seen that I didn’t put the cheesy croute in the bowl with the soup; this is because I have a complete horror of soggy bread! Just the thought of it makes my skin crawl, so I have my croutes on the side of the plate where they stay well away from any potential sog!
 

750g onions, peeled and thinly sliced

25g butter

½ tsp soft dark brown sugar

1 tsp dried thyme

2 tsp plain flour

1l stock

3 tbsp balsamic vinegar

50ml red wine

½ tsp Marmite

2 thick slices of French bread per person

as much grated cheese as you like

a sprinkle of dried thyme

Heat the butter in a large saucepan over a highish heat, when it’s foaming add the onions; turn the heat down to medium and cook the onions until very soft and golden brown, turning frequently. Mine took about 35 minutes.

Add the sugar, thyme and flour, stir well, then add the stock, balsamic and wine; stir well and bring to the boil. Turn the heat down to the merest simmer, put the lid on and leave to cook for 25 minutes then add the Marmite and cook for a further 5 minutes.

Five minutes before the soup is ready toast the bread on both sides; cover one side with grated cheese and a sprinkle of dried thyme and put under a hot grill until melted and bubbling. Serve the cheesy croutes with the soup, either alongside on floating on the soup if you prefer.

Serves 4 generously

Italian Vegetable Soup

They've started already; the courgettes are on the march! I wasn't expecting the onslaught quite so soon, but they seem to like the weather we've been having this year.

Every year about this time I start cooking recipes to help me use up the courgette mountain that has arrived in the garden; allotment holders and hobby gardeners across the land will all be very familiar with this same annual scenario.

I use them regularly in two different soups, fritters and a couple of salads; I also add them to roast veg as well as stir-fries and a vegetable tart. Admittedly, after a few weeks we get a bit courgetted-out but I still get a ridiculous sense of pleasure from just wandering outside and picking something that will be on our plates within half an hour. I’m easily pleased.

This soup may just look like a rather speckled tomato soup but the courgettes add a subtle sub-taste whilst the pesto gives it an Italian twist.

1 onion, chopped
1 courgette, sliced
1 400g tin of tomatoes (you can use fresh tomatoes if you prefer)
1 red pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
750 ml veg stock
a heaped tbsp of tomato pesto (I use Sacla Organic)
3 or 4 sprigs of basil

Fry the onion, courgette and pepper in the oil for 5 mins, add the garlic and continue to fry for another 5 mins; add the stock and tomatoes and simmer gently for 15 mins.

Take off the heat, add the basil and the tomato pesto then blend with a stick blender until smooth. Thin with a bit more stock if necessary.

Serve in mugs with plenty of good bread.

Serves 4

Courgette Soup

As you know, I love soup in all its guises; we eat it all year round but I like to vary the type of soup to suit the season. This is a nice summery variety which looks terribly green, worthy and ‘good for you’, but don’t let that put you off. It’s a little stunner and a very worthwhile recipe to have to hand when the garden gives up its usual glut of courgettes in July and August and you're tearing your hair because you don't know what to do with the blasted things!

I wonder why it is I can never grow just enough courgettes; why do I always get snowed under with them? It's one of life's little mysteries...

1 tbsp olive oil

500g courgettes, washed and chopped

1 large floury potato, peeled and chopped

1 medium onion, peeled and chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tsp thyme leaves

1l vegetable stock (Marigold Bouillon)

1 tbsp chopped parsley

1 tbsp chopped chives

1 tbsp creme fraiche

Saute the courgettes, potatoes, onion, thyme leaves and garlic in the olive oil, without colouring, for 10 mins. Add the stock and simmer until all the vegetables are tender. Blitz with a stick blender until really smooth then stir in the chopped herbs and crème fraiche. Reheat gently and serve hot with a few garlic croutons and lots of crusty bread.

Serves 4 - 6

Vegetable Beanpot Soup

Well, it must have been something I said! No sooner do we get a few days of sunshine, sending my mind wandering to salads and warm weather food, than it turns cold again and I start thinking of soup! The joys of the British weather…

I seem to have been making this soup forever; it’s the one I return to again and again, firstly because we love it and secondly it’s made with standard store cupboard items so the ingredients are always to hand.

Just had a nice bowlful for lunch with some tomato bread – went down a treat…

1 large onion, chopped small

2 large carrots, chopped small

2 sticks of celery, chopped

1 large potato, peeled and diced

10 chestnut mushrooms, chopped small

1 tbsp olive oil

1 dsp tomato puree

1 lt veg stock

1 tin mixed beans, drained and rinsed

1 dsp Worcester sauce (a veggie one, obviously!)

½ tsp curry paste

½ tsp Marmite

Put all the veg into a large saucepan, add the oil and fry over a medium heat for five minutes. Add the tomato puree and the stock and bring to the boil. Simmer gently for 20 minutes.

Put half the beans and half the hot soup in another pan and blend until smooth with a stick blender. Add the smooth soup to the chunky soup then add the rest of the beans, Worcester sauce, curry paste and Marmite. Reheat gently. Eat and enjoy.

Serves 4 and freezes well

Mulligatawny Soup

I have a confession to make…..I am a soup addict; I know most people think of it as a winter food, but I have long been of the opinion that soup should be served on a daily basis whatever the weather. Obviously some soups are better than others, but I think I can honestly say that I've never met a soup I didn't like; I have a list as long as your arm of different recipes that I will one day get round to making and I’m gradually ploughing through them so watch this space.

I realise that vegetarian mulligatawny soup might seem like a contradiction in terms, but things become easier once you ignore the fact that it is vegetarian and just think of it as a nice flavoursome Mulligatawny. This was adapted from a long, convoluted recipe that originally included meat. I made so many changes and adaptations that I think I can safely call it my recipe now. It went very nicely with some fresh wholemeal bread.

250gm carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
2 onions, peeled and chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic
1 tin of tomatoes
100gm red lentils
1 lt vegetable stock
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
½ tsp dried chilli flakes
1 tsp ground turmeric

2 tbsp finely chopped coriander

crème fraiche and a little coriander to serve


Soften the carrots and onion, without colouring, in the olive oil for 10 mins. Add the dried spices, garlic, tomatoes, lentils and stock. Bring to the boil and simmer for 30 minutes. Blitz with a stick blender then stir in the chopped coriander. Serve with a spoonful of crème fraiche and a few coriander leaves.
Serves 4 generously and also freezes well.

Roasted Tomato and Red Pepper Soup

I had been planning to make a mushroom pate for our starter on Christmas Day but, because the weather had been so awful, there were no decent mushrooms to be found anywhere; this festive-coloured soup was a very good second choice – I served it in teacups and saucers with some toasted ciabatta.

It was light, tasty and warming; just right before a heavy main course and pudding.





400g tomatoes, quartered
2 red onions, peeled and cut into eighths
2 red peppers, cored and cut into large chunks
4 cloves garlic, peeled
few grinds of black pepper
½ tsp dried thyme
2tbsp olive oil
1l vegetable stock

Small jar of horseradish cream to serve

Put the tomatoes, onions, red peppers and garlic in a large roasting tin; drizzle over the olive oil, sprinkle with the black pepper and thyme then mix well with your hands so the veg are coated in oil. Roast at 200C for about 30 minutes until the veg are cooked and starting to char at the edges.

Transfer the cooked veg and all the tomatoey, peppery juices to a large saucepan, add the stock then bring to the boil and simmer gently for 10 minutes. If you like, you can scoop out and discard any loose tomato skins that rise to the surface, but I don’t worry too much about leaving the skins in. Take the pan off the heat and blitz the soup with a hand blender.

Serve in warmed bowls with a spoonful of horseradish cream.

Fragrant Sweet Potato Soup

Well, it’s a week to go until Christmas Day and it’s snowing like blazes! The temperature this morning was -8°C....that was outside, I hasten to add, not inside! Half the country seems to have come to a standstill, with many roads and some airports closed, but thankfully I have no reason at all to go out today.

I never need an excuse to make soup, but weather like this is positively calling out for soup and plenty of it! Something warming and spicy to lift the spirits and buck up the tastebuds; add some nice bread and maybe a chunk of cheese and you have a lunch fit for a king (or possibly three kings, given the time of year!)


1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
2 tsp Madras curry paste (or more to taste)
800g sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
1l vegetable stock (Marigold Bouillon)
75ml coconut milk
ground black pepper
small bunch of coriander, chopped

Heat the oil in a large saucepan, then soften the onion and garlic over a gentle heat for 4-5 mins. Stir in the curry paste and cook for 1 min. Add the sweet potato and stock then bring to the boil. Simmer gently for 15-20 mins until the potatoes are tender.

Remove from the heat, stir in the coconut milk, then blitz like billy-o with a stick blender until absolutely smooth. Sprinkle with coriander and a few grindings of black pepper before serving.

Serves 4-6

Best Ever Tomato Soup

It's November, the clocks have gone back, the weather is miserable and it's cold....what we need is soup!

There's something very comforting about the smell of soup as it's cooking, very homely and warming. Served with a chunk of good bread and maybe a piece of cheese, there's nothing to beat it; the perfect lunch.

I've called this soup 'Best Ever Tomato' because I genuinely think it is. I've made many different variations of tomato soup over the years, and after much experimenting I've found this is the one that really hits the spot. I guarantee you'll never open a tin of Heinz again.

1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tbsp oil from a jar of sunblush tomatoes
6 sunblush tomatoes
2 tins tomatoes
500ml vegetable stock
1 tsp sugar
½ tsp dried oregano
1 tbsp crème fraiche (see note below)
Pesto (optional)

Soften the onion and garlic in the oil over a low heat. Add the sunblush tomatoes, tinned tomatoes, stock, sugar and oregano then bring to the boil. Break up the tinned tomatoes a bit with the back of a wooden spoon then turn the heat down and simmer gently for 15 minutes.
Take the pan off the heat and add the crème fraiche, then blitz with a stick blender, adding a little more stock if necessary. Serve with a teaspoon of pesto on top and an extra blob of crème fraiche if you like.

NB. Be sure to use full-fat crème fraiche; the low-fat one will split when you add it to the hot soup.

Serves 4