Winter is all about soups and stews, this particular soup uses lots of seasonal vegetables and is a great way of using up leftover bits of veg when prepping recipes. It makes enough for about 6 people, so plenty to go around, if there's only two of you you can freeze any leftovers as it keeps well in the freezer. I love to smoke the vegetables as it adds a wonderful deep flavour. For those of you wishing to make this dish vegan you can omit the crème fraiche.

2 large winter carrots (roughly 200g) topped and tailed

1 small leek, cleaned remove any roots, use both white and green bits

2 medium sized potatoes 

2 beetroot peeled

1 small parsnip peeled, topped and tailed

1 stick celery

20ml vegetable oil

1.5 litre vegetable stock

10g sweet paprika powder

10g tomato puree 

20g crème fraiche 

Salt and pepper to taste

Set your barbecue up for indirect cooking at 180c

Have some apple and cherry wood chips or chunks ready to put on the coals about 5 minutes before you put the vegetables on

Roughly chop all the vegetables so they are all 1 inch cubes or rounds

Place in a cast iron baking dish or pan and sprinkle with the oil 

Place the wood chips/blocks on your barbecue and give it 5 minutes before you put your vegetables on 

Place the veg in the barbecue and smoke for 45 minutes

Once smoked, place to one side covered with tin foil for 6 hours to allow the smoke to mellow and infuse

Place the vegetables in a pan with the stock, tomato puree and paprika, if simmering on your barbecue, reduce the heat to 150c and use a cast iron pot and cook for 30 minutes

If cooking on the hob simmer for 30 minutes over a medium heat. 

Add the crème fraiche and stir though

Blend the soup using either a stick blender, liquidizer or food processor (whatever you have to hand)

Season to taste with the salt and pepper and serve