Although Autumn has been kind to us weather wise so far, there have definitely been a few chillier days. When it’s cooler, my mind always turns to soup! When we were growing up, I often remember Mum cooking up a big batch of soup on a Saturday for lunch. There was always some sort of activity on a Saturday morning – swimming, music etc, and it was always lovely to come home to a warming bowl of soup.

My favourite when I was really little was “Sunshine Soup”, so called because it was a yellowish hue, although unfortunately Mum could never quite remember what actually went into it (I’m sure it was different every time!). A close second was this lentil soup recipe. I’m not entirely sure where the original recipe came from, but I discovered a dog eared photocopy recently when Daisy was asking for soup for lunch, and made it with a few tweaks of my own.

The finished soup is really thick but you could thin it down a little if you wanted to by using more stock or a splash of milk for added creaminess. Lentils are a great source of plant based protein and fibre, and the carrots, tomatoes and onions mean that a serving gives you 2 of your five a day. Don’t be afraid of using real butter in this – it really does give a delicious taste to the end result! It freezes really well too, so I often make a big batch on a Sunday and pop the individual portions in the freezer ready for a quick and nutritious lunch during the week.

Ingredients for 4 servings

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 medium onion
• 150g carrots (peeled weight)
• 500ml chicken or vegetable stock
• 200g dried red lentils
• 1x 400g tin chopped tomatoes
• 25g butter

Method

• Peel and dice the onions and saute gently in the olive oil for about 5 mins
• Peel and dice the carrots and add to the onion. Saute for another five minutes
• Add the stock, lentils and tomatoes
• Simmer for about 20 mins until the vegetables are soft
• Stir in the butter and allow to melt before blending. I like to leave it fairly chunky