Main course soup di Philipio

It's been six days of OJ-swigging and Echinacea-guzzling, but the FK household still can’t shake off a cold. Stuffy nose, blocked ears, and it’s brrr outside too. 

So there was only one thing on the menu for dinner: a thick, warm soup.

Luckily, I had just the recipe: one from my dad. He doesn't do that much cooking, what with his job, a sideline in DIY call-outs for his kids and practising in case the World Solitaire Championships get in touch, but my dad does have a manly Guinness apron and a few signature recipes that bubble away on the weekends.

His warming main-course vegetable soup is one of my favourites. It's a little like Minestrone, but thicker. The beauty of it is that you can make it using almost whatever your freezer/cupboard contains, so it’s doable even when a miserable nose means you haven’t been to the shops yet this week.

Ingredients (serves four)

Dash of olive oil

One onion

A clove or crushed garlic

Tin chopped tomatoes

Mixed herbs

Tin baked beans

Extra veg, choose between 2 chopped carrots, handful of frozen peas or sweetcorn or diced potatoes, tinned beans or other veg

Pasta

Squirt of Ketchup and Brown Sauce
Optional: grated Parmesan, crusty bread for dunking 

Method

Fry the chopped onion and a little garlic until caramelised

Add 1 litre boiling water, the chopped tomatoes, and a twist of salt and pepper, half the baked beans, plus dried herbs

Use a stick blender (super useful and available for less than a tenner) to liquidise the soup

Add the rest of the baked beans, and your desired veg

When all cooked and soft, add a small handful of pasta for each person
Add the sauce squirts

When the pasta is soft, serve with greater parmesan, and crusty bread (this focaccia works a treat for dunking) and top with herbs - fresh coriander is my favourite.