Recipe // Chunky Tomato Soup

I don't know about you, but my weekends can go one of two ways. Either I am super productive, getting up early, buying fresh ingredients for meals that I have planned ahead. Or ... I spend the day in my pyjamas, and use up whatever I have in my fridge. All I seemed to have in my fridge last weekend were a ton of tomatoes, and what do you do with tomatoes ... soup! So along with a couple of fridge and cupboard foods a soup was born:

Ingredients

- 1 Cup of hot water
- 1 Vegetable stock cube
- 12 Salad Tomatoes
- 1 Punnet of Plum tomatoes
- 1 White onion
- 6 Cloves of garlic
- 2 Sweet Potatoes
- Handful of Basil leaves

Method

Put into a saucepan the hot water, stock cubes and all of the tomatoes. As these are simmering away, chop up the onion, garlic and potatoes, and throw them in along with the basil. Simmer for 20minutes and serve with some chunky buttered bread.

This recipe is so versatile that you can swap out the ingredients, maybe add in some courgettes, or carrots. If you have a little longer or want to get some more flavours then just leave the soup simmering for longer or chuck all the ingredients in a slow cooker.

What are your easy weekend recipes?

Recipe // Summer Pesto Pasta

Today I thought I would bring you a fresh summery dinner recipe. It's a super quick, Pesto and Chorizo Spaghetti, perfect for Summer evenings, eating on the balcony (If only I had one ... )

Ingredients;

- 120g Chorizo, chopped- 1 clove of garlic

- 1 large handful of fresh Basil

- 50g Pine Nuts

- 3 tbs Olive Oil

- 50g Parmesan

- 200g spaghetti

Serves 2 people.

Method;

In a frying pan or wok, dry fry the Chorizo. Once the Chorizo is golden, take the Chorizo off the heat leaving the oil in the pan and keeping the chorizo in a bowl. As this is frying, start cooking the spaghetti and grind down the garlic in a pestle and mortar, adding in the Basil and pine nuts until ground down in to a paste. Once this is at a paste consistency mix in the Olive Oil and Parmesan.

Once the spaghetti is cooked, add it and the pesto in to the frying pan with the Chorizo oil. Mixing the spaghetti in with the Chorizo oil means that the flavour of the Chorizo runs all through the dish. And serve! Mmm mmm mmm ...

This dish is lovely and fresh tasting, and the contrast with the crisp basil pesto and the more indulgent and salty chorizo! This can be done in less than 20 minutes as well. perfect mid week meal!

What's you favourite Summer dinner?