Sausage, bean and tomato soup (serves 6, preparation time 10 minutes, cooking time 35 minutes)

This is a great leftover and store cupboard soup when you have some leftover vegetables and sausages. This recipe works just as well without the sausages.

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons of olive oil;

• 1 large knob of butter;

• 1 red onion, finely chopped;

• 2 cloves of garlic, crushed;

• 4 celery stalks (preferably the heart so that the leaves are also used in the soup). 2 finely chopped and 2 medium sliced;

• 2 carrots, quartered and sliced;

• 4 new potatoes cut into small chunks;

• 500 ml of vegetable stock (Marigold Vegetable Boullion);

• Carton of chopped tomatoes;

• Carton of Sainsbury’s Italian tomato and basil pasta sauce;

• Carton of Sainsbury’s organic cannellini beans;

• 4 cooked pork sausages (good quality chipolata sausages) and sliced diagonally;

• Handful of basil;

• 4 sprigs of thyme, taken off the stalk and finely chopped;

• Handful of parsley finely chopped; and

• Seasoning.

Here’s what you do:

Step 1 - Put the oil and butter over a low to medium heat in a large pot.

Step 2 - When the butter has melted, add the onions and cook until softened, but not brown.

Step 3 - Add the garlic and stir to ensure that it does not stick.

Step 4 - Add the celery, carrots and potatoes and sweat them down on a low heat for at least 10 minutes. This helps to develop the flavour, but you may need to add a little bit of water to ensure that nothing burns.

Step 5 - Add the stock, tomatoes, pasta sauce and cannellini beans and herbs.

Step 6 - Simmer the soup for at least 15 minutes and season to taste.

That gives you the basic recipe, but here are some extra tips should you need them:

Option 1 - If you want to spice this up a bit, you can add some paprika when the onions have cooked through.

Option 2 - If you prefer a less chunky soup, you can liquidise half or all of the soup to reach your desired texture.

Kitchen implements required:

• Chopping board

• Sharp knife

• Large pot

#soup #sausages #bean