My mother’s carrot & thyme soup

(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.