Recipe of the week: tomato, bean and pasta soup

This comforting, hearty soup makes the perfect lunch: the combination of beans and pasta will keep you fuelled all afternoon, says Katy Beskow. Toss a few croutons over, or serve with crusty bread and vegan butter.

Ingredients: serves four people

• 1 tbsp sunflower oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 carrot, peeled and diced
• 1 celery stick, diced
• 2 stalks of cavolo nero, roughly chopped, tough stems discarded
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• ½ tsp dried mixed herbs
• 1 x 400g can of good-quality chopped tomatoes
• 1 litre of hot vegetable stock
• 80g small dried pasta, such as stelline, farfalle, orzo, margheritine (ensure egg-free)
• 1 x 400g can of cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• generous pinch of sea salt and black pepper
• small handful of flat-leaf parsley, chopped or torn

Method

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• Heat the oil in a large pan, add the onion, carrot, celery and cavolo nero and cook over a medium heat for 3-4mins, stirring frequently.
• Next add the garlic, oregano and mixed herbs and cook for a minute. Pour in the tomatoes and stock and bring to the boil.
• When the liquid is simmering, add the pasta and cannellini beans. Cook for 15mins until the pasta is al dente. Stir to avoid sticking.
• Remove from the heat and season with salt and plenty of pepper. Scatter with parsley just before serving.
• Tip: choose small, shaped pasta that sits easily on a soup spoon for this recipe.

Taken from Easy Speedy Vegan: 100 Quick Plant-Based Recipes by Katy Beskow, published by Quadrille at £20. To buy from The Week Bookshop for £15.99, call 020-3176 3835 or visit theweekbookshop.co.uk.