300 CALORIES PER SERVING
This low-cost, low-fat soup is really creamy and filling and the tortillas are awesome. I like to make enough soup for four portions and freeze some for another time.
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, chopped
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
½ tsp turmeric
150g red lentils
1 small sweet potato (about 185g), chopped
800ml hot vegetable stock
salt and freshly ground black pepper
CHEESY TORTILLA WEDGES
35g strong Cheddar cheese, grated
1 wholemeal tortilla
½–1 tsp cumin seeds
1 Heat the oil and a tablespoon of water in a saucepan and stir in the onion. Cover the pan with a lid and gently fry the onion for 10–15 minutes over a low heat until it has started to turn golden.
2 Stir in the garlic and spices and cook for 1 minute. Add the red lentils and sweet potato and cook for 2 more minutes. Pour the stock into the pan, cover it with a lid and cook over a low heat for about 15 minutes until the lentils and sweet potato are soft.
3 Preheat the grill. Scatter the cheese over the top of the tortilla and sprinkle with the cumin seeds. Season well, then grill until the cheese is golden and bubbling. There’s no need to toast the other side of the tortilla as you want the slices to be nice and soft for dipping in the soup.
4 Whizz the soup with a hand-held blender until smooth, then reheat it gently.
5 Slice the tortilla into thin wedges – a pizza cutter is great for this – and serve them with the soup.
TOM’S TIP
To freeze half this soup, pour it into a sealable container and leave it to cool. Put a lid on the container and freeze the soup for up to a month. When you want to defrost it, leave it in the kitchen overnight, then put it in the fridge until you’re ready to heat it up.
MAKES 4 SERVINGS
114 CALORIES PER SERVING
This hearty soup is simple to make (you don’t even need to peel the squash) and makes great comfort food on a cold day. And what’s more, you can use any veg you have that might be a bit past its best and the soup will still taste great!
1 tbsp olive oil
400g butternut squash, unpeeled and cut into chunks
1 red onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, unpeeled
1 celery stick, roughly chopped
1 carrot, roughly chopped
2 sprigs of thyme
1 tsp smoked paprika
4 slices of pancetta
600ml hot vegetable stock
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C Fan/Gas 6. Put the oil, squash, onion, garlic, celery and carrot in a bowl with the thyme and paprika. Season well and toss everything together. Pour a couple of millimetres of water into a small roasting tin that’s large enough to hold the vegetables snugly and in an even layer. Spoon the veg into the tin and roast them for 30 minutes or until tender.
2 Ten minutes before the end of the cooking time, lay the pancetta slices on a piece of baking paper and put them on a baking tray. Pop this into the oven on a shelf below the vegetables and the pancetta should crisp up nicely.
3 When the vegetables are tender, turn off the oven (leave the pancetta in there to keep warm). Tip the vegetables into a food processor. Squeeze the softened garlic out of its skin into the processor, then pull the leaves from the thyme sprigs and add those to the processor too.
4 Add half the stock and whizz until smooth. Tip everything into a pan and add the remaining stock, then bring the soup to a simmer to heat through.
5 Ladle the soup into bowls and top each with some crispy pancetta. Season to taste and serve.
SERVES 2
312 CALORIES PER SERVING
Cracking eggs into hot soup might seem a bit scary, but this tastes brilliant so please do give it a try. Adding the cheese at the end really brings all the flavours together.
1 tbsp olive oil
10g butter
1 leek (about 100g), trimmed, halved, cleaned and sliced
100g savoy cabbage, shredded
300g head of broccoli, chopped
600ml hot vegetable stock
2 large eggs
1 tbsp freshly chopped parsley
15g Parmesan or mature Cheddar cheese
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 Heat the oil and butter in a saucepan over a low heat. Once the butter has melted, add the leek and savoy cabbage and stir. Season well, then cover the pan with a lid. Cook the vegetables very gently over a low heat for 5 minutes, then add the broccoli and cover the pan again. Cook for another 5–10 minutes until all the vegetables have started to turn golden and caramelise. Stir them every now and then.
2 Stir in the hot stock and season again, then cover the pan and bring the stock to the boil. Turn the heat down low and continue to simmer for 6–8 minutes until the vegetables are tender.
3 Make a dip on one side of the soup with the back of a spoon and drop an egg into it. Do the same on the other side. Cover the pan again and cook for 3 minutes. This method poaches the eggs so that the yolks are set but still a bit soft in the middle.
4 Divide the soup into 2 bowls, making sure there is an egg in each. Scatter over the parsley, then grate