Creamy tomato soup

A nice warming soup for a cold winters night.

Ingredients

3 tbsp olive oil

2 onion, chopped

2 celerysticks, chopped

300g carrot, chopped

500g potato, diced

4 bay leaf

5 tbsp tomato purée

2 tbsp sugar

2 tbsp red or white wine vinegar

4 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes

500g passata

3 vegetable stock cubes

400ml whole milk

Method

Put the oil, onions, celery, carrots, potatoes and bay leaves in a big casserole dish, or two saucepans. Fry gently until the onions are softened – about 10-15 mins. Fill the kettle and boil it.

Stir in the tomato purée, sugar, vinegar, chopped tomatoes and passata, then crumble in the stock cubes. Add 1 litre boiling water and bring to a simmer. Cover and simmer for 15 mins until the potato is tender, then remove the bay leaves. Purée with a stick blender (or ladle into a blender in batches) until very smooth. Season to taste and add a pinch more sugar if it needs it. The soup can now be cooled and chilled for up to 2 days, or frozen for up to 3 months.

To serve, reheat the soup, stirring in the milk – try not to let it boil.