A little twist on minestrone soup. Roasting the tomatoes gives the soup a more intense flavour. It is a great soup to batch up and store in the freezer, also very low in calories.

• 7/8 fresh tomatoes
• 1 red onion, peeled and halved
• 1 whole garlic
• Fresh thyme and rosemary sprigs, about 3/4 of each
• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• Fresh basil 30g
• Smoked bacon rashers x3, diced
• 1 leek, diced
• 2 carrots, finely diced
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tsp. paprika
• 1/2 tsp. smoked paprika
• 1 tbsp. dried oregano
• 1 courgette, diced
• 1 tin plum tomatoes
• 1 pint veg stock
• Pasta of choice, pre-cooked

• Cut the tomatoes into half and place on a baking tray with the red onion, the whole garlic (slice the top off so the cloves are open and peel away any loose skin) and add a few sprigs each of thyme and rosemary.
• Drizzle over the olive oil and season well with sea salt and black pepper. Roast for around 20-30 minutes or until everything is soft and gooey.
• Remove the tomatoes and onion with a slotted spoon and pop into a smoothie maker. (I removed the tomato skins but you can blend these too for extra flavour) Squeeze each garlic clove into this too along with any herb leaves. Discarding twigs and garlic skin. Add most of the basil (reserve a few leaves for the end) and blend to be a smooth paste.
• Scoop the oil from the tomato bake and pour into a pan. Sauté the bacon, leeks and carrots along with the bay leaves.
• Add paprika, smoked paprika and oregano, mix well. Pour the blended tomato mix into the pan, add the courgette and stir well. Let this bubble for 2/3 minutes.
• Add the tinned tomatoes; squishing the tomatoes a little, but keeping some chunks. Pour in the stock and season well. Simmer for 20 minutes.
• Cook the pasta of your choice, it can be spaghetti broken into small pieces, mini macaroni or anything you have. I used curly edged pasta (Mafaldine) and smashed it up a little before cooking.
• Serve with a spoon of cooked pasta stirred in, a few basil leaves sprinkled on top, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and some Parmesan.
• Voila, smokey, tasty, healthy and low in calories. Makes a good sized batch too to store for a later day.
• Tip: always add the pasta to the soup before serving, if cooking in the soup the liquid can get soaked up.
• Tip 2: you can add any veggies to this, I sometime use what I have in the cupboard, you can add diced potatoes too for extra carbs.