A few words form our home cook:

During the COVID-19 lockdown I have been working from home and my 3 kids aged 16, 13 & 12 are remote learning. I love cooking but hate following recipes and I'm well known in my family for modifying things each cook. I hope you enjoy the recipes I am sharing while I also learn about food blogging!

Jill Sherrin - Bookings Coordinator & Office Administrator

The cold weather has really set in and soups are a great winter warmer. This is a quick and easy recipe to make which should also keep the kids happy while they are remote learning! It can be cooked in a pot like I have done or you can put all the ingredients in the slow cooker. This recipe was adapted from Jamie's Ministry of Food which I modified even further.

Ingredients:

6 Large Tomatoes

2 x 400g of Tinned Tomatoes (Whole or crushed)

2 x Carrots

2 x Celery Sticks

2 x Vegetable Stock Cubes

2 x Cloves of Garlic

1 x Onion

1 Tablespoon of Gourmet Garden Basil (Use slightly less if using dried basil)

1.5 Litres of Boiling Water

2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil

Method

1)Roughly chop the onion, carrots (I prefer not to peel), celery & the garlic. Chop the fresh tomatoes in half and set aside for step 3.

2)Heat the oil in a large pot over low to medium heat and added the chopped ingredients. I cooked these for about 5-10 minutes until they soften slightly and making sure the onion is not getting too brown. While these are cooking in the pot I get ready the 1.5 litres of boiling water and dissolve in the stock cubes.

3) Add the stock, both tins of tomatoes and the fresh tomatoes.

4) Add the basil and stir everything through. Bring to the boil and then reduce to a simmer for 20 minutes.

5) Using a stick blender blitz until it's smooth. Give it a taste test to see if it needs any additional seasoning.

6) Serve and enjoy! See below my variations on how to make it your own.

Make It Your Own

1) Make a creative minestrone soup. I broke up little pieces of angel hair pasta which looks like noodles when cooked. (Add these before the end of the cook, they take about 3-5 minutes to cook through). Be careful not to add too much pasta otherwise it becomes gluggy. For the topping I added some roasted zucchini and capsicum.

2) For a chunkier minestrone soup add a larger type of pasta and more vegetables. Shell pasta is one of my favourites.

3) You can try adding other flavoured herbs as well even fresh ones. I keep the gourmet garden packets in the freezer in the event I have run out of fresh herbs.

4) For the kiddies mine loved this served the next day with cheese toasties cut into triangles for dipping in the soup.

5) You could use this recipe as a sauce base. To make it thicker just decrease the water a little or add more tomatoes.