With winter upon us now, soups bubbling away on the stove are a quick save when ravenous kids come off the sports field after it’s already dark. So often, this is a pre-dinner meal in my house, and I love that everyone can help themselves to a ladle of soup while I get on with other chores.

Here’s what goes in

• 1 onion, finely chopped
• Olive oil, for frying
• 300g of carrots, washed and diced
• 4 large sweet potatoes, peeled and quartered
• 1 tablespoon of caraway seeds
• 500ml (2 cups) of vegetable stock
• 2 cups of water
• Salt, to season

How to do it

In a heavy based pot, fry the onion, caraway seeds, carrots, and sweet potatoes in olive oil until the onion is soft and the vegetables are just caramelised. This helps infuse the lovely caraway flavour.

Add the vegetable stock and bring this to a gentle boil until all the veggies are soft enough to put through a food processor. Keep checking the liquid levels and add more stock or water if needed.

Once done, remove the soup from the heat and allow to cool. Pour the vegetables and all the liquid into a food processor and pulse until the soup is smooth and free of lumps. Depending on the size of your food processor, you may have to do this in batches. At this point you can add any remaining vegetable stock if you’d like to thin the soup out a bit. Season to taste and serve with a dash of fresh cream if desired.