each medium carrots, sweet potatoes and leeks, roughly chopped
1
large Spanish onion, roughly chopped
1
fat garlic clove, sliced
2
celery stalks, trimmed and finely chopped
1l
(2¾ pints) good-quality vegetable stock
1
bay leaf
Directions
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 170ºC (150ºC fan) mark 3. Put the carrots, sweet potatoes, leeks, onion, garlic, celery, stock and bay leaf into a large flameproof casserole and bring slowly to the boil. Cover, then transfer to the oven for 1½-2hr, by which time the vegetables will be very tender.
Step 2
Remove bay leaf and liquidise the soup. If the soup's too thick, stir in 100ml (3½fl oz) hot stock. Season with salt and ground black pepper. Serve with a drizzle of olive oil, a dollop of crème fraîche, some vegetable crisps and a sprinkling of freshly chopped flat-leafed parsley.
Prepare ahead
Make the soup, cool and store in fridge for up to three days. Alternatively, cool the soup quickly in a freezerproof container, then freeze for up to three months. To use, thaw overnight, then pour into a pan. Bring slowly to the boil and simmer gently for 5min or until heated through.
An experienced and highly skilled team of food writers, stylists and digital content producers, the Good Housekeeping Cookery Team is a close-knit squad of food obsessives. Cookery Editor Emma Franklin is our resident chilli obsessive and barbecue expert, who spends an inordinate amount of time on holidays poking round the local supermarkets seeking out new and exciting foods. Senior Cookery Writer Alice Shields is a former pastry chef and baking fanatic who loves making bread and would have peanut butter with everything if she could. Her favourite carb is pasta, and our vibrant green spaghetti is her weeknight go-to. Lover of all things savoury, Senior Cookery Writer Grace Evans can be found eating crispy corn and nocellara olives at every opportunity, and will take the cheeseboard over dessert any time (though she cannot resist a slice of tres leches cake). With a wealth of professional kitchen know-how, culinary training and years of experience between them, they are all dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work (and if they don’t – we’ll have the answer for why*) every time (*90% of the time the answer is: “buy an separate oven thermometer”!).