Vegetable soup with roasted red pepper pesto

THE simplest meals are often the most satisfying. Instead of having to remember complicated cooking steps and intricate techniques, you can focus on what’s important — flavour! This dish delivers so much in the way of nutrition. It’s also exceptionally pleasing to the eye and is perfect for feeding the family. You can vary the vegetables to suit your taste, or depending on what’s in season. You’ll be eating the rainbow in no time. SERVES 4 2 tbsp olive oil 1 red onion, finely diced 3 carrots, finely diced 4 celery stalks, finely diced 300g fennel bulb, finely diced 200g courgette, finely diced Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper 800ml water 300g podded broad beans (fresh, tinned or frozen)

2 large tomatoes, cut into 3 cm cubes

15g Parmesan cheese, grated, to serve (or you can use nutritional yeast flakes for a plant-based version) FOR THE RED PEPPER PESTO 25g fresh basil leaves 50ml olive oil 100g sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained 100g roasted red peppers from a jar 2 garlic cloves HEAT the olive oil in a large saucepan over a medium-high heat and add all the vegetables, apart from the broad beans and tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper and saute for 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables have slightly caramelised. Boil the water and add to the saucepan with the broad beans (you can use frozen ones without defrosting them) and simmer for another 6-8 minutes until the vegetables are soft but not mushy. Add the tomatoes and cook for a further minute, then take off the heat. Put all the red pesto ingredients into a blender or food processor and blitz until nice and smooth. Pour the soup into bowls, swirl the pesto into it and sprinkle with a dusting of Parmesan for a delicious umami flavour.

DOCTOR’S ORDERS: Red peppers and sun-dried tomatoes in jars tend to have added salt — so be mindful of this when seasoning during the cooking process. You can swap the broad beans for canned cannellini or borlotti beans.