creamy tomato and bean soup with garlic croutons

This soup is one we make all the time, particularly on weekends when we’re dashing back home, chilly and damp after a football match and need something hearty with some goodness in before we head off again. I shared a video of me making this during lockdown, when we dreamed if being able to dash around again. You can watch me make it here.

It is a soup my children love the most, being not that far from a can of Heinz, but with the sweetness coming not from sugar but from peppers and balsamic, and the creaminess coming from beans with just an optional touch of cream cheese or creme fraiche. The spinach goes unnoticed too, always nice to get a bonus green in. If you’re cooking for people who are cautious of trying new things, picking something with a familiar texture, colour and taste helps get that first taste in more easily.

Croutons always help make this more appealing too and the recipe below makes delicious croutons with any stale bread you have knocking around or those random crusts floating around in the freezer.