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flavour, and a hint of something darker and treaclier distilled from the heat-charred edges. It also happens to be a particularly simple way of setting about soup-making. Everything bar the stock is piled into a roasting tin and slid into the oven. You go away for 45 minutes or so, and then all you need do is liquidise the whole lot. And sieve it. Finito.

       Serves 4-6

       BASE AND MAIN INGREDIENTS

       1.5kg (31b 50z) reddest tomatoes you can find, cut in half

       1kg (21/4 lb) onions, peeled and cut into eighths

       6 garlic cloves, unpeeled

       3 big thyme sprigs

       4 tablespoons olive oil

       SEASONINGS

       2 teaspoons caster sugar

       salt and pepper

       LIQUID

       900ml (11/2 pints) Vegetable or Chicken Stock (see pages 15-17)

       DRESSING UP (optional, but really good)

       50ml (2fl oz) whipping cream

       a small handful of basil leaves, chopped

      1 Preheat the oven to 220°C/425°F/Gas Mark 7.

      2 Put all the base and main ingredients and the seasonings into a large roasting tin. Use your hands to turn the vegetables so that they all get coated in oil and evenly seasoned. Roast uncovered for 45 minutes, stirring once, until patched with brown and phenomenally soft and tender. If the onions still appear a little firm, give the whole lot another stir and return to the oven for a further 15 minutes. Remove the thyme stalks.

      3 Liquidise in batches with big slurps of stock to keep the whole lot moving (in a processor, or with a hand-held wand liquidiser). Sieve the resulting soup back into the pan, with any remaining stock. Stir well, then taste and adjust seasoning.

      4 Reheat when needed, or serve chilled on a hot day.

      5 The dressing-up basil cream is easy. Put the cream and most of the basil, together with a couple of pinches of salt, in a bowl and whisk together until the cream just holds its shape. Don’t over-do it or you will end up with butter. Not at all the idea. Drop a spoonful of the basil cream into the centre of each bowl of soup and top with a little of the remaining basil before passing around.

      Italian Bean and Vegetable Soup

       This is a brilliant, filling chunky soup just like the ones mama makes all over Italy.

       Serves 6-8

       BASE INGREDIENTS

       4 tablespoons olive oil

       1 onion, peeled and chopped

       3 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped

       2 carrots, peeled and diced

       AROMATICS

       2 sprigs each of thyme and rosemary

       4 tablespoons chopped parsley

       MAIN INGREDIENTS

       200g (70z) dried cannellini beans, soaked overnight, or 1 x 400g can cooked cannellini beans

       450g (1lb) potatoes, peeled and cut into 2 cm (3/4in) cubes

       about 300g (100z) prepared weight of at least 2 of the following: courgettes, winter squash such as butternut, turnips, fennel, celery, leeks (see opposite)

       1 x 400g can chopped tomatoes

       110g (40z) peas, fresh or frozen and thawed

       LIQUIDS

       1.2 litres (2 pints) water

       SEASONINGS

       salt and pepper

       DRESSING UP

       freshly grated Parmesan cheese (or Cheddar or Gruyère)

       the very best extra virgin olive oil

      1 If cooking the beans yourself, drain after soaking. Cover with 1.8 litres (3 pints) fresh water, add half the aromatics, and bring to the boil. Boil hard for 5 minutes, and then simmer until the beans are just cooked and tender, around 40 minutes.

      2 Drain the cooked or canned beans. If you have cooked them yourself, save the cooking water.

      3 Sauté the base ingredients in a good large, heavy-based pan until soft and lightly browned. Don’t rush this. Allow a good 10-15 minutes and keep on stirring, so that the full sweet, caramelised flavour has time to develop.

      4 Add the remaining aromatics and all the remaining main ingredients except for the beans, peas, courgettes or leeks (or whichever vegetables you are using). Pour in the liquid (use the bean cooking water if you have it). Season with salt and pepper and bring up to the boil.

      5 Simmer gently until the potatoes are almost cooked (around 15 minutes), then stir in the peas and courgettes and leeks if using, along with the beans. Simmer for a further 4-5 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning.

      6 Serve in big bowls, passing the cheese and olive oil around the table so that everyone can add just the amount they like to their soup.

      Italian Vegetable Soup with Pasta

      Follow the recipe for Italian Bean and Vegetable Soup opposite, replacing some, all or none of the beans (depending on how much carbohydrate you crave), with a handful or two of small macaroni, or other small pasta shapes. Throw the pasta into the soup when it has been boiling for about 10 minutes, and check that it is cooked al dente (see page 65) before taking the pan off the heat. You may need to add a little extra water (say around 100-150ml/4-5fl oz) to the pan, as the pasta will absorb some of the liquid.

      need to know

       PREPARING VEGETABLES

       COURGETTES: slice thickly and quarter each slice.

       WINTER SQUASH (any from pumpkin to butternut squash, to onion squash and so on): cut away the hard rind and scrape out the seeds. Cut the flesh into 2cm (3/4in) cubes.

       TURNIPS: if they are young and small there is no need to peel. Older chunkier turnips have older thicker skin, so it’s best to remove it. Cut what remains into 2cm (3/4in) cubes.

       FENNEL: trim off the stumps of the stalks, which tend to be stringy. Cut a thin slice from

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