Vegetable Soup

 Ingredients

• 2 tbsp olive or sunflower oil, or 30g/1oz butter
• 1 onion, peeled and chopped
• 1 garlic clove, peeled and chopped
• 1 bouquet garni
• and/or 1-2 fresh red chillies, de-seeded and chopped
• or 1 tsp or more curry paste or curry powder or spices, e.g. cumin, fennel seeds, cinnamon, etc
• 1 potato, or other thickener if needed, peeled and cut into chunks
• 500g/18oz vegetables, prepared as appropriate and roughly chopped
• 1-1.5 litres/1¾-2¾ pints) vegetable or chicken stock, or vegetable cooking water, or a mixture of water and milk
• salt
• freshly ground black pepper

Preparation method

1. Heat the oil or butter gently in a large saucepan, then add the base ingredients, the aromatics and the main ingredients. Stir around to coat everything in the fat, then sweat very gently for 10-15 minutes.
2. Add 1litre/1¾pints of stock or other liquid, saving the rest for thinning down (if necessary), and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Bring up to the boil, then simmer gently for about 20 minutes until all the vegetables are tender.
3. Liquidise in several batches, and return to the pan. Thin down with the reserved stock, water or milk as required, and check the seasoning
4. Reheat when needed.