Creaminess is the key with this soup, so it has three ingredients to make it creamy: cashew nuts, potato and coconut cream. They all add to the flavour too – not in a dominating way – just enough to make it extra tasty.

3½ oz (100g) cashew nuts
9 floz (250 ml) water
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, crushed
3½ oz (100g) peeled potato, chopped
2½ x 400g tins chopped tomatoes or equivalent fresh
1½ oz (45g) creamed coconut (see Notes)
2 teaspoons vegan vegetable bouillon powder (see Notes)
1 teaspoon miso (see Notes)
2 teaspoons tomato purée
3½ oz (100g) cooked beetroot, chopped
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh basil
Salt – optional

1. Soak cashews in the water overnight OR boil together in a saucepan at a simmer for 15 minutes. If you boiled, cool a little. Place the cashews and soaking/cooking water in a blender or food processor and blend to a smooth cream. This may take a few minutes.

2. Meanwhile heat oil in a large pan. Add onion, sauté until soft and translucent. Add garlic and cook and stir for 1 minute.

3. Add potato and enough water to just cover. Put the lid on and bring to the boil. Then turn down to a simmer for 10-15 minutes, until potatoes are soft.

4. Take the cashew cream that you’ve just made and add to the pan, together with the tomatoes, creamed coconut, bouillon, miso, tomato purée and beetroot. Bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in basil.

5. Place soup in a blender. Blend and taste for seasoning, add salt as desired and if it’s too thick, add a little light vegetable stock. It will take a few minutes of blending to get it smooth if you aren’t using a high speed blender. Gently reheat and serve. Serves 6.

Notes.

  • Use the creamed coconut in a block.
  • We use Marigold red bouillon powder.
  • The miso could be replaced with ½ tsp tamari soya sauce or ½ tsp vegetable bouillon powder.
  • The beetroot makes the soup a deeper red colour, it doesn’t add a prominent beetroot flavour.
  • I tend to use 2 x 400g tins tomatoes and make up the remaining 200g with fresh tomatoes, so there isn’t half a tin of tomatoes left over.
  • For most uses it is fine to give the soup a blend, then heat and serve. To get it really smooth, blend then strain in a colander with largish holes to get the bigger bits of pulp out. (If you use a fine sieve, the soup won’t go through). Or use a high speed blender.
sieve