Hearty vegetable soup

Ingredients

• Vegetable oil (½ tbsp)
• 1 medium-sized onion, sliced
• 2 small carrots, sliced
• 3 sticks of celery, sliced
• 1 tin of chopped tomatoes (400g/14oz)
• Green beans (80g/3oz)
• Tomato purée (1½ tbsp)
• 1 leek, sliced
• Frozen peas (80g/3oz)
• Dried pasta (50g/2oz)
• Black pepper to taste
• Dried herbs (1½ tsp)

Instructions

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan. Add the onions, carrots, leeks and celery and fry until sizzling. Reduce the heat, cover and cook gently for five minutes, stirring if needed. While the vegetables are cooking, boil one litre (1¾ pints) of water.
2. Add the tin of tomatoes, boiling water, tomato purée, beans and frozen peas. Raise the heat to the maximum to continue boiling. Add the pasta, herbs and pepper.
3. Reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes or until the pasta is cooked, stirring frequently to make sure the pasta doesn’t stick.

Benefits

• Suitable for people with a dry or sore mouth
• Suitable for people with sickness or nausea
• Suitable for people with problems chewing
• Suitable for vegetarians

Nutritional information

Energy 78kcal; Protein 3.6g; Total fat 1.9g (of which saturates 0.3g); Carbohydrate 12.9g; Fibre 2.9g

Thanks to NHS Choices for contributing this recipe.