Soup's on...

During the cold days of January, there is little more comfort that can be found as that of a hot bowl of soup. I thought I would share a couple of my soup recipes with you this month. Now this Tomato and ravioli soup is a real stick to your ribs soup but still very simple to make. I never buy canned soups for us as making soup from scratch is easier than you think, rewarding to make and much tastier than anything from a can.

For this soup, you will need an onion, a leek, a package of ravioli, 2 cans of peeled tomatoes, a jar of grilled red peppers, 2 vegetable bouillon tablets, (fresh) basil, olive oil, salt and pepper.

Dice up the onion and cook in olive oil.

Slice and dice up the drained grilled peppers.

Add the grilled peppers and two cans of tomatoes with liquid to the pan. Chop up the tomatoes with a spoon in the pan. Allow to cook for about 5 minutes.

Make 750ml bouillon and add this to the soup. Allow the soup to cook again a further 5 minutes.

Cleaning a leek is easily done if you remove the green end and cut from just under the root to the end. If you want smaller pieces in your soup, cut again creating 4 sections. Let the leek rinse under cold running water to wash out any sand. Now cut your leek up in thin pieces.

Your soup should not be ready to puree before adding the last few ingredients.

Add the leeks.

Add a package of fresh pasta to the soup pan. I used porcini mushroom filled ravioli. You could also use tortellini. Salt and pepper the soup to taste.

Leave the soup to simmer for a minimum of 15 minutes. You must be sure your pasta is cooked. It may need to stay on longer.

Serve with ripped fresh basil leaves and a light sprinkling of flaked parmasan cheese. You can choose to add dried basil along with the pasta and any kind of cheese is optional. Enjoy this hearty soup with fresh bread.