I swear this soup is my saviour when I feel a lurgy coming on.
High in vitamin C and packed with lovely anti-oxidant-laden fresh tomatoes and red pepper, along with flu busting garlic, protein packed beans and fresh basil, this is a power house of a super food soup that I’m pretty sure can stop a cold dead in its tracks. It’s magic, I swear!
The addition of beans adds extra protein (for the pole gains) and helps to make this soup really filling, so you won’t end up overdosing on any accompanying bread rolls.
This recipe makes enough to feed a small army, but it freezes well. For ultimate food prep smugs, freeze it in portions so you can take one out of the freezer in a morning and heat it up for lunch at work.
Ingredients:
- About 700g tomatoes – aim for a mixture of different tomatoes – vine ripened, cherry toms, beef tomatoes etc.
- 6 x peeled garlic cloves
- 1 x red pepper
- 1 x red onion
- 1 x red chilli (optional)
- 1 x tin of black eyed beans (other beans are good too)
- 500g Passata
- Handful fresh basil, roughly chopped
- Tsp dried oregano
- Spoonful crème fraiche (optional)
- Olive oil
- Salt and pepper
Portions: 5 to 6
Method:
- Heat the oven to 190ÂşC.
- Roughly chop the large tomatoes, the pepper, onion and chilli (if using) and throw them all on a baking tray with the smaller tomatoes and the garlic cloves. Drizzle olive oil over the top, sprinkle with salt and pepper and dried oregano then use your hands to coat everything in the oil.
- Roast in the oven for about 20 mins.
- Allow to cool a little and, when the tomatoes aren’t hotter than the surface of the sun, you’ll be able to pull off the tomato skins. This makes a silkier soup, but I admit that sometimes I’m lazy and skip the tomato-skinning step. Don’t judge me.
- Transfer everything on the tray into a blender. Add in the chopped basil and drained tin of beans and blend for a few minutes.
- Transfer this into a large saucepan, add the passata (this will help smooth things up) and simmer on a low heat for about 15mins to soften the beans.
- Season and then, just before serving, stir in a spoonful of crème fraiche for a more creamy soup.
Snuggle up in a blanket and enjoy!
If you’d like to learn more about nutrition that supports your pole training, or you want more details on how to programme your strength training for pole, check out my book – Strength and Conditioning for Pole – available now in hard copy or as a downloadable ebook.
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