Using leftover vegetables to make a delicious homemade soup

Over the coming weeks, we're going to need to be resourceful with the food that we have in the cupboards, fridge and freezer. Laura, a Set 42 (second year) student, has shared a recipe that is fantastic for using up any short-dated and leftover vegetables.

I created this recipe to use up any vegetables that are close to their best before date. Therefore, you can adapt it to suit the vegetables you’ve got at home; the recipe is very versatile. Also, vegetable soup is highly nutritious and a good source vitamin C, which is great for the immune system. This recipe is also great for families with different dietary requirements as it is vegan, gluten-free, and dairy-free.

Recipe

• 1 large carrot, peeled
• 3 sticks of celery 
• 1 large brown onion
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 2 bell peppers 
• 2 tomatoes 
• 600ml passata 
• 300ml vegetable stock
• 1tsp dried basil 
• 1tsp dried oregano 
• Pepper to taste 
• 1tbsp olive oil

Serves five adults

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 40 minutes

Method

Finely dice the carrot, celery, and onion.

Heat the oil in a saucepan and add the vegetables, sauté for 2/3 minutes.

Mince the garlic cloves and add to the saucepan, continue to sauté the vegetables until soft and golden, roughly another 10 minutes.

Finely dice the tomatoes and peppers and add to the saucepan, cook for another 5 minutes.

Once all the vegetables have softened, add the passata, stock and dried herbs to the saucepan. Bring to a simmer.

Simmer for roughly 20 minutes until all the vegetables are soft.

Pour the soup into a blender and blend until smooth, you can use a hand blender for this if you prefer.

Season with pepper to taste.

How can children get involved? 

When making vegetable soup, children can help at many stages. Firstly, children can help chop the vegetables using a suitable knife as long as there’s adult supervision. Secondly, children can help stir the vegetables in the saucepan as well as pour in the liquids. Children can also turn on the blender once the soup has been poured in but be careful as the blender jug may be hot.

Food and Nutrition is taught on the Norland Diploma, which students study alongside the degree. This unique qualification teaches the practical skills it takes to become a Norland Nanny. Find out more about this practical qualification.