(Serves 4)
When my body is suffering from one inebriated night too many (as many people may be experiencing after Welcome Week), it craves some nourishing home cooking and a good, old-fashioned dose of vegetables. This soup was my all-time favourite meal when I was little, and I would eat it with one of those starchy white bread rolls that serve no nutritional purpose whatsoever, but are surprisingly comforting when slathered in butter. It takes me back to a simpler time when life wasn’t riddled with hangovers or deadlines, and bread snobbery wasn’t running amok. This is my remedy, which I impart to you.
This is also as cheap as it comes. With a 1.5kg bag of Sainsbury’s Basics carrots at 70p (of which you will use about a third), you can’t go wrong. Depending on what you already have in your cupboard, this dish could cost as little as 6p a portion – I kid you not.
Ingredients:
2 onions (chopped)
1 lb carrots (grated or very finely chopped – they cook much quicker if cut as small as possible)
1 ½ tbsp plain flour
1 tbsp thyme
1 bay leaf
Salt & pepper
1 pint vegetable stock
1 pint milk
Fry the onions in a knob of butter over a gentle heat. Once soft, add the carrots and cook for 10-15 minutes with the lid on. Be sure to heat the mix until the carrots are completely cooked – if underdone the soup won’t be sweet enough. Once the carrot is cooked, stir in the flour thoroughly. Add the stock, thyme, bay leaf and seasonings and cook for a further 10 minutes. Remove the bay leaf, take the pan off the heat and liquidise using a hand blender. Add the milk, stir and then bring to the boil.
