Tomato and Vegetable soupI cook this to my husband’s taste, but if less cooking suits you that’s fine. It can go together a bit randomly, but I have now followed this particular recipe several times.

100g Soup & Broth Mix – soak overnight, then rinse well.

2 litres (2 quarts) water
700-800g diced root or soup veg (I get pre-prepared)
1 finely sliced stick of celery
1 small onion, sliced and quartered
4 beef stock cubes
1 142g tin tomato puree
2 Tbs Italian herbs
1 bay leaf
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp Worstershire sauce
1/2 tsp salt, some ground pepper

50g soup pasta

In a large pan, put the broth mix and cold water together and bring to boiling, and add then everything else EXCEPT the pasta. Cover and simmer for ½ hour. (Starting with cold water gives the broth mix a bit of a head start, so the veg don’t get over-cooked.)

Add the pasta and cook for a further ½ hour, stirring occasionally so it doesn’t stick. Taste to check the seasoning.

Then ladle it into 200g portions for the freezer, makes approx 15 portions of ~200g each.