A glorious sunny Potato soup,

my tahini and sesame focaccia, and blossoming primroses.

A few years ago, when Italian Newspaper Corriere Della Sera launched their Cook edition, a weekend supplement solely dedicated to food, I created a few soup recipes for their very first edition, (pictured above).

You can read some of it here.

I was asked by the Food Editor Angela Frenda to create 7 interesting soup recipes, which was such a joy, and I was given the opportunity to be ever so creative with familiar everyday ingredients.

The task at hand was a brilliant exercise in just how many ways one can make soup, from fermented vegetables served chilled, or a fermented milk based version from my Scandinavian roots, to a sweet plum soup served with a dollop of crème fraiche, and a creamy chestnut soup etc.

Soup is one of those things that can serve as an umbrella term for a vide array of ingredients served chilled, piping hot, fermented, raw and boiled.

Soup can be a side, a starter, or a whole meal in itself.

Spanish white garlic soup ( ajo blanco) and gazpacho, are two soups that I yearn for the moment Spring wave a fond farewell, and the temperatures rise.

If you have my cookbook The Cottage Kitchen, (which I’ve just been told by my editor in New York, that there are only 89 copies left worldwide!) my savoury rhubarb soup with sour creme and pepper, is always a hit, as soon as ruby red rhubarbs return each year in early spring.

Safe to say, I love making soup.

Having a few simple soup recipes up our sleeves is the sort of comfort cooking that I lean on when the days seem too short, filled with too much, and cooking from scratch seems daunting.

But equally, it’s also my go to for feasts when I have more time to elaborate, ferment, or whizz together something surprising and delightful for my guest too.

As with so many soups, the base of this week’s sunny potato soup, begin with the basics, ingredients you can easily prepare ahead of time and freeze, like the chopped onions, celery and carrots.

I keep a bag of shopped onions in the freezer for days when time is limited.

This is something to keep in mind when cooking for many too, to chop and freeze ahead of time, as so many recipes call for onions.