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'Start of the Week' Soup

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‘Start of the Week’ Soup feels more up-beat than the slightly sad connotations of an ‘End of the Week’ Soup.  Either way it uses up those pesky bits & bobs hanging around in the fridge and transforms them into something delicious.

Ingredients

Scale
  • 200g (7oz) Lardons
  • a good glug of olive oil
  • 1 onion
  • 1 clove of garlic, grated or finely chopped
  • Half a red pepper
  • 1 carrot
  • 1 courgette
  • a small head of broccoli
  • 100g (4oz) fine green beans
  • 1 litre (2 pints) stock - chicken or vegetable is fine
  • 2 x 400g (13oz) tins of chopped tomatoes with herbs
  • 100g (4oz) mini pasta - I used Alphabet shapes
  • a couple of large spoonfuls of pesto (optional)
  • 200g (7oz) frozen peas

Instructions

  1. Before you start cooking, chop all the vegetables into small pieces - the size that you would like to see them in your soup. At this stage, I tend to keep the things that cook quickly separate from those that take longer. So here I had a plate of onion, garlic, red pepper and carrot and a different plate of courgette, broccoli and fine green beans.
  2. Brown the lardons in a large saucepan or stock pot.
  3. Then add a good glug of olive oil and tip in the onion, garlic, red pepper and carrot.
  4. Cook for a few minutes on a low heat until tender and then add the courgette broccoli and fine green beans to join them for a few more minutes.
  5. Now add the stock, the chopped tomatoes and the mini pasta. Bring to the boil and simmer until the pasta is cooked - use the instructions on the packet of pasta for a guide to how long it will need.
  6. Taste to check that everything is done and to check the seasoning. At this stage, I sometimes like to stir in a couple of large spoons of pesto ..... it doesn't always need it, but it did this time!
  7. When everything is ready, stir the frozen peas into the hot soup. They will cook very quickly and leaving it to the last moment will ensure that they retain their beautiful colour. Finish with a sprinkle of something green - if you are feeling fancy.
  8. Note - as the soup cools it gets thicker, so if you are preparing it ahead of time you may choose to add some extra water when heating to loosen up the consistency.

Keywords: soup, cosy, leftovers

Find it online: https://marmaladeandme.com/start-week-soup/