No Blend, No Fuss 10 Minute Tomato Soup

As a student on a budget who loves food and tries to stay healthy as best she can, I can sometimes struggle for ideas when it comes to lunch. For me, lunch needs to be quick and easy, satisfying but not too heavy, low cost but not unhealthy and, above all, tasty. This recipe is exactly that: a punchy tomato soup with a blast of garlic, kick of chilli and sprinkling of herbs that will be in a bowl in less than ten minutes and will cost you less than fiver for two portions. A miracle if I ever did see one.

No Blend, No Fuss 10 Minute Tomato Soup 
Serves 2

1 tbsp olive or rapeseed oil 
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped 
2 tsp chilli flakes (optional) 
4 fresh tomatoes, diced 
1 x 400g can chopped tomatoes 
2 tsp Italian seasoning 
1 tsp sugar 
Salt and pepper 

Put the oil into a saucepan over a low heat. Let it come up to temperature (about 2 minutes). Add the garlic and chilli flakes, if using, and fry in the oil for 3 minutes, they should fizz and become golden but not burn. Add the fresh tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes. Add the chopped tomatoes along with the Italian seasoning, sugar and salt and pepper. Stir, turn the heat up to medium, cover and cook for 5 minutes. Serve immediately with bread for dipping.

TIP: This recipe can of course be doubled or tripled to make a bigger batch.