For me, wintery weather definitely calls for soup. I could probably, quite happily, eat soup everyday. That being said, I hate tinned soup, I definitely prefer homemade! I love that there are so many flavour options, it can be really healthy, a great way to get some of your five a day and is cheap to make. So here’s my recipe for spiced carrot and sweet potato soup…

Makes enough for about 6-8 people. I tend to make it in a big batch and put whatever doesn’t get eaten into boxes to pop in the fridge or freezer for quick lunches during the rest of the week.

Ingredients:
1 onion
2 celery sticks
3 carrots
3 sweet potatoes
3 medium sized potatoes, I used Maris Pipers
5 sprigs of parsley and/or coriander
1 or 2 tsp of dried chilli flakes (depending on how hot you like things)
2 tsp garam masala
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp ground coriander
1 litre veg stock (I just used stock cubes)
Olive oil

Start off by chopping the onion and celery, then put a fairly big pan on a medium heat, add a splash of olive oil. Add the dried spices, give these a minute, then add the chopped onion and celery and stir into all the spices. Let these cook for about ten minutes or until softened.

Meanwhile chop the carrots (optional: nip outside and feed the carrot tops to Eva the pet rabbit!).

    

Peel and chop both kinds of potatoes. When the onion and celery has softened add the rest of the veg and give it all a stir.

Finely chop the fresh herbs, add the stalks to the pan and stir. Next pour in all of the hot veg stock, turn the heat down a little and put the lid on the pan. Allow to simmer for about 20mins, or until the potatoes are cooked through.

Take the pan off the heat and let the soup cool a little, use a stick blender to blitz the soup, you might want to add a little more stock or water here to make the soup a little thinner. Give it a taste and add a little salt and pepper if you think it needs it, but remember the stock will have already added salt. You can always add more chilli flakes too if you like. Stir in the fresh herbs and you’re good to go!