Tomato and Basil Soup

I am back with my Recipes That Cost Less Than £1 series with a classic. Good ol' tomato soup. If you think there's nothing special about soup, you'd be wrong. This recipe is simple, easy to prepare (although it does require a blender so keep that in mind) and it's cheap as chips (except much much cheaper than chips). I hope you enjoy!

(Serves 2-3)

Ingredients:

• 400g Sainsburys basics chopped tomatoes
• 1/2 red onion, chopped
• 400ml Vegetable stock
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 handful of chopped basil

1. Add the olive oil and the onions to a large pan and cook on a medium heat for 4-5 minutes or until they are browned.
2. Add the chopped tomatoes and stock. Once boiling, simmer for 30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper if you wish.
3. Add the basil and leave to cool.
4. Once cooled, add the soup into a blender and blend until smooth.
5. Reheat on the stove, this time be careful not to boil and serve when hot.

The Maths:

• 400g Sainsburys basics chopped tomatoes cost £0.35
• 1 onion (roughly 20p depending on where you buy them from) halved is £0.10
• Marigold Swiss vegetable Bouillon is £2.00 for 150g. We're using 1 tsp, so that is 5g. This is £0.06
• 100ml of olive oil cost £0.32. Tbsp converted into ml is 17ml per tbsp = £0.06
• Sainsburys fresh basil costs £0.80 in a packet. We would use about 1/4 of this which is £0.20. If you want to save even more money, consider growing your own basil or purchasing a basil plant.

All together this adds up to 79p

Thai Noodle Soup

Warning: This recipe requires a spiralizer. If you don't have one, you can replace the courgette noodles with regular rice noodles, but you'll lose some hipster points.

Ingredients

• 1 courgette
• Pre-chopped and seasoned tofu. (I like the Cauldron brand)
• a handful of button mushrooms
• 4 - 5 pieces of baby corn, chopped
• 4 - 5 mangetout
• 2 tbsp Thai curry paste*
• 1 thumb of fresh ginger, grated
• 2 stems of lemongrass, chopped
• 1 spring onion, chopped
• 1 tbsp of olive oil

*Make sure the Thai curry paste is vegan as they can often contain fish.

1. Spiralize the courgette and set aside the noodles
2. In a pan, add the olive oil, cook on a medium heat
3. Add the lemongrass, spring onion and grated ginger, cook for 2 minutes
4. Stir in the Thai curry paste. Add in the tofu and the mushrooms. Cook for 4 minutes on a low heat, careful not to let anything burn
5. Add in 200ml of boiling water. Add in the mangetout, the baby corn and the courgette noodles. Cook for a further 2 minutes
6. Season with salt and pepper

Vegan Borscht

If, like me, you're obsessed with beetroot, I would like to welcome you to beetroot heaven with this amazing Ukrainian soup that I have veganized. Also, you can see me in the spoon. Enough ramble. Let's move on to the recipe.

(Serves 4)

Ingredients:

• 3-4 raw beetroots, chopped with skin removed
• 2-3 carrots, grated
• 2 leeks, chopped
• 1 large potato, diced
• 2 sticks of celery, chopped
• 3tbsp red wine vinegar
• 500ml of vegetable stock
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• dill for garnish
• salt and pepper

For the sour cream:

• 4 tbsp of vegan cream (I use Alpro)
• the juice of 1 lemon

1. Add the olive oil to a large pan, sauté the leeks and celery on a medium for 5 minutes until soft but not brown.
2. Add the potato, beetroot and carrots, then add the stock, season with salt and pepper.
3. Bring to the boil, then simmer for about 40 minutes or until the vegetables are tender.
4. Meanwhile in a bowl, mix together the cream and the lemon juice.
5. When the soup is ready, add in the red wine vinegar and season to taste.
6. Pour the mixture into a blender or use a hand blender. Blend until the mixture is lumpy. Be careful not to over blend as borscht is supposed to be like a broth.
7. Pour into bowls and garnish with dill and a dollop of the sour cream.