Here are a couple that I made over the last few days. Please bear in mind that I made them up as I went along so amounts are somewhat vague. Also, I am sure they are not in any way original but they are adaptable so use your imagination and what you already have, whenever possible! These are quite frugal but won't be if you go and buy special ingredients for it.
Cream of tomato soup
Ingredients to make enough for one
A bit of onion, carrot and celery, all chopped finely
A blob of butter
A squeeze of garlic puree to taste
Some tomatoes*, halved
about one level tsp chicken stock powder (or veg stock powder if you want it to be vegetarian)
Water (see * below)
A splash of cream (or milk but cream is better!)
* This is the problematic bit. I used tomatoes from the garden - lovely, juice sungolds. They are small tomatoes and I suppose I used about 15 to 20. You could use a can of chopped or plum tomatoes or tomatoes that are going soft, I reckon.
Because they were so juice, I didn't add any extra water but firmer tomatoes would need some water.
Method
Soften the onion, carrot and celery in a blob of butter. Add the garlic puree and continue to cook, gently, for a minute longer.
Toss in the tomatoes, the chicken stock and a bit of water (see * above). Bring to a simmer, cover and cook until everything is soft.
Zizz everything until super smooth, then push the lot through a sieve to get rid of any residual gunk.
Return the soup to the saucepan, check seasonings and adjust, if necessary. Add a splash of cream and reheat to just under boiling.
Serve.
Additions such as more cream, croutons, etc, would be delicious!
Sort of non-traditional minestrone - ish soup.
This one is so vague that it's really an idea, not a recipe. I don't care: it was gorgeous and filling and I shall make it again soon
Ingredients to make enough for two
A splash of olive oil
One can of chopped tomato, zizzed smooth (or you could use the equivalent amount of passata, I guess)
A small onion, a small carrot, a mushroom or two and about a third to a half of a rib of celery, chopped to the size you want in the soup
A smallish, waxy potato, chopped as above. I left the peel on
Some haricot beans (I had some baked beans left over so I just roughly rinsed off the sauce)
A few frozen broad beans, peas, sweetcorn . . .
Bit of chilli puree and a bit of garlic puree
A level tsp chicken stock powder (or the vegetable equivalent)
A good pinch dried mixed herbs
Salt and pepper (be careful of the salt as the stock powder is already salty
A little water, if needed
Method:
Zizz the canned tomato and set aside
In a saucepan, soften the chopped onion, carrot, celery, mushroom and potato in a little olive oil, adding the chilli and garlic purees towards the end.
Then add the remaining ingredients, bring to a simmer and cook, covered, until all the vegetables are soft. The sauce should be quite thick but add some water if it seems to be getting too thick.
Check and adjust seasonings, if necessary.
Serve piping hot with some nice crusty bread. Lovely!
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