Chickpea and chorizo soup

225g dried chickpeas, soaked overnight

1 tbsp oil

125g chorizo, in bite-sized chunks

3 garlic cloves, chopped

½ onion (don't chop it)

2 tsp ground coriander

salt and pepper

extra virgin olive oil

toasted flaked almonds

Heat the oil in a frying pan. Add the chorizo and fry until just beginning to crisp. Add the chickpeas and cook for three minutes. Add the garlic, onion and coriander. Cover with water and bring to the boil. Then simmer for 2 hours. Add more water if necessary during cooking. Remove the onion and season the soup.

Spoon about half of the chickpeas into a blender and blend until smooth. Put the blended chickpeas back into the pan and reheat. Serve topped with flaked almonds and a drizzle of olive oil.

Leek and potato soup

4 servings

• Glug of olive oil
• 1 onion, sliced
• 225g/8oz potatoes, cubed
• 2 medium leeks, sliced and washed
• 1.2 litres/2 pints vegetable stock
• Glug of milk or Double Cream
• Lots of salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method
• Heat the oil in a large pan and add the onions, potatoes and leeks
• Cook for 3-4 minutes until starting to soften
• Add the vegetable stock and bring to the boil. Season well and simmer until the vegetables are tender.
• Whizz with a hand blender or in a blender until smooth
• Reheat in a clean pan, stir in the cream milk, heat through and serve
• Serve with crusty bread

Butternut squash and pear soup

From @rossyrahrah

Butternut squash is difficult to cut up. Buy it ready-chopped if you possibly can. Apart from that, this is a really easy recipe to make!

	4 servings
Butternut squash	1 medium
Pear	1
Curry powder	1 tbsp
Vegetable stock cube	1
Water	450 ml

1. Peel and chop the butternut squash if not already done. Peel and chop pear and remove stone.
2. Put all ingredients in a saucepan. Simmer for around 30 minutes until the squash is soft, then blend.