Accidental soup is not the best name for a something, I’m going to tell you is tasty and delicious. How for a start can making soup be an accident? What happened was this, I was going to make Spicy Chicken Meatballs from Everyday by Bill Granger (yes another recipe from that cookbook) with pasta, you make the meatballs and bake them in the oven while also roasting lots of cherry tomatoes, add those to a small amount of stock and chuck over pasta. Job done, dinner served.

Except, I made the meatballs (having to change the spice mix quite a bit due to dis-oraganised shopping) and roasted the tomatoes and then decided I didn’t want to eat that and I’d forgotten that my oven runs quite hot and over roasted both the meatballs and the tomatoes. Tired and not hungry, I chucked the meatballs and the roasted tomatoes in the fridge and went to bed.

Not to be defeated, the next evening, I tried again and used too much stock. At which point I tasted what the tomatoes and meatballs had done to the veg stock and liked it, so added some lentils and called it soup. Accidental soup. I know it doesn’t look like soup you would what to eat but accidental and homely as it is, it’s also great.

What

Olive oil

1 small onion, finely chopped

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

1 teaspoon ground cummin

2 teaspoons paprika

1/2 a teaspoon mild chilli powder

500g turkey mince

3 tablespoons breadcrumbs

50g chopped pancetta

2 tablespoons chopped flat leaf parsley

sea salt

500g cherry tomatoes, halved

freshly ground black pepper

Half a pint to a pint of vegetable stock (I used Marigold)

Half a cup of cooked green lentils

How

Preheat the oven to 200°C.

Add some oil a pan and over a gentle heat, soften the onion and garlic.

Add the spices and cook for a minute.

Put the turkey, breadcrumbs, pancetta, parsley, salt into a bowl. Add the onion to it and mix it all together.

Stick in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Once the mixture is firmer, roll it into small meatballs and put on a baking tray.

Put the cherry tomatoes on another baking tray, drizzle with oil and season with salt and pepper.

Roast both the meatballs and tomatoes for 20-30 minutes.

(At this point you can abandon the meatballs and tomatoes in the fridge overnight if you wish!)

Put the stock in a saucepan and add the meatball, tomatoes and lentils.

Give it all a stir and allow it all to heat through.

There done, add seasoning to taste and serve with parmesan.