I started making this soup in a cold Melbourne winter when I was at uni. It was the perfect go-to soup to keep warm while studying for hours, keep any colds & viruses at bay and affordable on a student budget. It keeps well in the fridge and is easy to reheat. It’s packed full of veggies and goodness, and very easy to adjust to your palate, health needs or climate.

Time Poor? No sweat. A super quick version can be done by not roasting the vegetables, which still gives good flavour, just not quite as hearty as when roasting until the vegetables are caramelising. 

This is the base recipe, feel free to adjust to suit you. 

Ingredients

2 x medium - large sweet potatoes

2 x red capsicums

6 x medium sized carrots

1 x brown onion

1 x bulb of garlic

1 x teaspoon cayenne

1 x teaspoon turmeric powder

2 x cans of organic tomatoes (or equivalent of fresh tomatoes)

2 x cans organic lentils

1 x can organic butter beans

1 x tub of tomato paste (140g 100% tomato concentrate - no added salt)

Organic Olive oil

500 ml (or more if wish) of free range/organic chicken stock or vegetable stock to be vegan friendly. 

1L of boiled water

Baking paper (optional)

Medium sized soup pot, large deep baking tray and hand blender are required. 

Variations: 

Spices: Ginger, smoked paprika, turmeric & cummin. 

If you prefer a creamy consistency but wish to remain dairy free add another can of organic butter beans, or 2 x cans of butter beans : 1 x can of lentils. 

Other vegetables to consider: beetroot (caramelises nicely), parsnips and pumpkin. 

Time poor? 

If you don’t have time to roast the vegetables you can just add it all in the pot, bring to boil, blender and serve. It is much faster, just not quite as tasty. 

Let me know how you go! Enjoy.

Method

Turn oven on to 180 degrees. 

Line the tray with a sheet of baking paper (not essential it just helps with cleaning). 

Peel and chop sweet potatoes, capsicum and carrots to bite sized pieces. I find 2-3cm squares works well. The bigger the pieces the longer it will take to cook. Add them all to the baking tray.

Peel garlic so all cloves are whole still and add them to the vegetables in the baking tray. 

Add a good splash of olive oil over the vegetables and toss it all through so they’re all covered.

Put tray of vegetables and garlic into the preheated oven. 

Check vegetables and turn them over every 20-25 minutes, until they’re brown and caramelising. 

For this amount of vegetables it takes my oven about 75 minutes or so. The trick is to keep checking them and turning them over, they’re ready when they’re caramelised, soft in the middle and dark brown on the outside. Note: The more vegetables in the tray the longer it takes.

When nearing the end of their cook dice onion into medium pieces.

Add a splash of olive oil to pot, turn stove top plate on to medium high heat, add diced onions to warmed oil. Cook until nice and brown.

Boil 1 litre of water in kettle. 

Open cans of lentils and butter beans, place in strainer over the sink and run under water to rinse them. Keep turning them over under the water until there are no more bubbles coming off them. Note: pre-soaked lentil & butterbeans can also be used, it just takes more planning to soak them overnight!

Once onions are brown add all the vegetables and stock, stir and bring to boil. Add the boiled water, tomato paste, canned tomatoes, lentils, butter beans, turmeric and cayenne. Add salt & pepper to taste, if you wish. Stir, bring to boil and then down to a simmer for 15 - 20 minutes. Stir a couple of times to make sure the bottom of the soup isn’t burning. Once simmered, take off heat and set aside to cool. 

When cooled for a few minutes start blending with the hand blender. Add more water to make blending consistency to your preferred choice. 

Serving suggestions

Once blended it’s ready to serve. Pictured here topped with coriander microgreens. Other serving suggestions: cracked pepper & hummus. 

Allow the rest to cool before converting to storage containers (unless glassware) and keep in the fridge.