• 2 tbsp butter, or soy/sunflower spread if cooking vegan
  • 2 medium carrots, finely chopped
  • 2 leeks, thinly sliced
  • 1 large onion, peeled and finely chopped
  • 3 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped
  • 1/2 tsp dried chilli flakes
  • 2 tsp dried oregano
  • 400g tin of chopped toms
  • 200g Puy lentils (dry)
  • 1 litre vegetable stock
  • sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

This is one of the Easy One Pot recipes in my current repertoire of New Recipe Books. A perfect soup for that bit in Spring we seem to find ourself in where the weather goes ‘look it’s nearly summe-HAAA TROLOLOL JOKES IT’S TOTALLY STILL COLD, LOOK, HERE’S SOME SLEET’. Vegan if you cook with oil or soy spread instead of butter (I was feeling decadent) – takes a little while to cook (45 minutes) but completely worth it, and it’s as simple as chopping, chucking veg in, then adding everything else and doing something else for half an hour. Anyway, ingredients pic:

Prep Time: 10 mins | Cook Time: 45 mins | Servings: 6 x 300g

Nutritional info: 111 kcal’s, 10g carbs, 8g fat, 1g protein Per 1/6 (approx 300g)

WHAT DO I DO WITH THESE FINE THINGS?

Melt the butter in a large heavy bottomed saucepan. Add the carrots, leeks, onion and garlic, stirring to coat with the butter.

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Add a good pinch of salt, cover and allow to cook for about 15 minutes until the vegetables are softened, stirring occasionally. Then add the chilli flakes, oregano, tomatoes lentils and stock. Cover and allow to simmer for about 30 minutes or so, until the lentils are cooked. If you’ve never cooked with lentils before, basically they should feel all nice and squishy, but still with a bit of ‘bite’ – think risotto rice.

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Taste and adjust seasoning if required. Serve with crusty bread, and grated veggie parmesan, if you like (though not if you’re vegan, obvs) on top.

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