Vegetable comfort soup with chilli chicken meatballs

This is my favourite comfort soup for rainy days. It’s what I make when I am home all day and feel just plain hungry and however much I eat, it always leaves me feeling satisfied and never like I’ve over-indulged! 293 calories | 7g fat | 1.7g saturates | 10g carbs | 8g sugar | 1g salt | 46g protein | 5g fibre

Serves: 4

INGREDIENTS

450g chicken mince 1 small red chilli, finely chopped ½ red onion, finely chopped 1 egg 1 tbsp tomato purée 4 garlic cloves, crushed 1 tbsp dried basil 1 tbsp olive oil 1 medium onion, finely chopped 225g carrots, peeled and chopped into small cubes 1 leek, finely chopped 1.75l chicken stock 1 tsp fresh cracked pepper 200g spinach

METHOD

For the meatballs: place the chicken mince, chilli, red onion, egg, tomato purée, half the garlic and half the dried basil in a large bowl and use your hands to mix together well.

Divide the mixture into tablespoon-size scoops and roll into balls. Place on a large plate.

Heat the oil in a large stockpot and sauté the onion for 2 minutes. Add the carrots, leek and the remaining basil and garlic and sauté for a further minute, then add the stock and pepper and bring to the boil.

Add the meatballs to the This is what I make when I am home all day and feel just plain hungry stockpot, cover and cook for 15 minutes.

Add the spinach, cover again and cook for a further 5 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat, divide between four serving bowls and serve immediately.