Karen Wright: Hearty bowl of soup during this cold spell

With soup it is easy to make something out of almost nothing: I had three small, sweet potatoes looking a bit forlorn in the veg rack and I had a red pepper lurking in the salad drawer of the fridge. These two ingredients with the addition of a red onion were the key ingredients in the soup.

This is what I did to make my soup: I washed the sweet potatoes and without peeling them cut them into chunks; I deseeded the pepper and chopped that into chunks too; and I peeled the onion and cut it into quarters. After topping and tailing three fat garlic cloves, I placed everything onto an oven tray. I sprayed everything with oil and then roasted the vegetables in a hot oven for about twenty minutes.

When I took the tray out of the oven, I squeezed the soft garlic out of the papery skin and then placed the veg and the garlic into a large saucepan. I added one can of chopped tomatoes and then I filled the empty can twice with water and added it to the pan. I placed the pan on the hob and brought everything to the boil and then reduced it to simmer. To season the soup, I added half a tsp of chili flakes and a tsp of smoked paprika. I seasoned it to my taste with salt and pepper.

The soup was ready after ten minutes simmering and I used my stick blender to blitz it to soup consistency. More water can be added at this stage to get the preferred thickness. The soup at this point is very bright red and totally vegan, however if you are feeling a bit ‘extra’ a bit of cream can be stirred through just before serving. This soup is a great lunch served with a crusty bread roll or if you are hosting a dinner party it makes a fantastic first course!

Fingers crossed for better weather ahead. Let's bring on the BBQ, let's make a splash with salads and let's look forward to a chance to get outside and enjoy the great British summer and hopefully a bright

and glorious September.