Tomato, bean and pasta soup

Tomato, bean and pasta soup is a filling vegetarian soup made using a combination of fresh and pantry ingredients and is quick and easy to make.

This cosy meal is perfect for chilly days when you want to serve a healthy, warming lunch but without spending too much time in the kitchen.

Homemade soups are far tastier and more filling than their shop bought equivalents. And as this soup is made using cheap ingredients it will help with your budgeting too.

Similar to other homemade soups, this soup recipe is versatile and you can easily swap ingredients. You can substitute leeks for onion, sweet potato for carrot or oregano for basil.

Making soup is a great way to use up vegetables and avoid food waste. It doesn't matter if your carrots or celery are starting to go soft, once they are cut up and cooked along with the other soup ingredients no one will ever know.

If you are looking for other homemade soup ideas you could try this recipe for winter vegetable soup, make a batch of vegetable minestrone soup, prepare a pot of spicy carrot soup, or try this recipe for sweet potato soup or butternut squash soup.

The quantities in this recipe for tomato and white bean soup are sufficient for two servings.

Ingredients

• 1 small onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 carrot
• Half a stick of celery
• 400 gram tin of chopped tomatoes
• 120 grams cooked beans - such as cannellini beans, haricot beans, butter beans, white kidney beans or any combination. Rinsed and drained.
• 25 grams soup pasta - or broken spaghetti
• 600 ml Vegetable stock - either homemade vegetable stock or made using a stock cube.
• 1 teaspoon dried basil

How to prepare

Peel the onion and garlic and finely chop. Clean and finely chop the carrot and garlic.

Cook the onion, garlic, celery and carrot in a little olive oil until soft.

Add the basil, tinned tomatoes, beans, vegetable stock and seasoning and simmer for until the carrots are cooked (around 15 minutes).

Add the pasta and simmer again until the pasta is cooked.

To serve

• Serve hot.
• Serve with homemade croutons, soft rolls, fresh crusty bread, ciabatta or focaccia.
• Top your bowls of homemade soup with garnish such as fresh herbs, ground black pepper, a swirl of cream or grated cheese.
• Stir in some baby spinach leaves for extra goodness.

To store

• Tomato, bean and pasta soup can be stored in the fridge for several days (although the pasta may bulk up slightly depending on the type of pasta used).
• This soup can be frozen if necessary to avoid wastage but it will not be at its best after defrosting. Ideally, eat without freezing.

Make ahead instructions

If you are preparing this soup to serve at a later time then it is better not to add the pasta. Some types of pasta will bulk up if cooked for too long so it is better to add the pasta when reheating.

Other vegetarian soup recipes