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 The Australian Women’s Weekly, Great Italian cookbook, RRP $29.95, available where all good books are sold.

During winter there's nothing better than warm soups served with crusty bread. This month we're lucky enough to have received the Great Italian cookbook from the lovely people at The Australian Women’s Weekly. So, we've decided to make the following two recipes:

• Lentil Soup
• Tuscan Bean Soup

We're sharing these two wonderful recipes for you to make at home. We've made them in the Kambrook Soup Maker. Click on the Soup Maker image to find out more information about this appliance.

Lentil Soup

prep + cook time 1 hour 35 minutes 

serves 6 

INGREDIENTS

• ¼ cup (60ml) olive oil
• 1 large brown onion (200g), chopped coarsely
• 1 medium eggplant (300g), quartered
• 4 medium tomatoes (760g), quartered
• 1 large red capsicum (350g), quartered
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled
• 2 litres (8 cups) vegetable stock
• 1 cup (200g) puy lentils
• ½ cup (125ml) sour cream
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh chives

DIRECTIONS

1. Combine oil, onion, eggplant, tomato, capsicum and garlic in large baking dish. Bake, uncovered, in hot oven about 45 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Turn once halfway through cooking.
2. Place capsicum pieces on plate, skin-side up. Cover; stand 5 minutes. Peel capsicum, tomato and eggplant; discard skin. Chop flesh coarsely keeping each vegetable separate.
3. Blend or process eggplant with garlic and onion until pureed; combine with stock and lentils in large saucepan. Bring to a boil; reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, about 35 minutes or until lentils are tender. [Can be made a day ahead to this stage and refrigerated, covered.]
4. Add capsicum and tomato; stir over heat until hot. Divide soup among serving bowls. Dollop each with sour cream; sprinkle with chives.

TIP: Brown lentils can be substituted for the puy lentils, although they do require longer cooking.

Nutritional Count Per Serving: 19.2g fat; 1409kJ

Tuscan Bean Soup

prep + cook time 2hours 5 minutes (+ soaking and standing time) 

serves 4 

INGREDIENTS

• 1½ cups (300g) dried haricot beans
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 medium brown onion (150g), chopped coarsely
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 trimmed sticks celery (150g), chopped coarsely
• 1 medium carrot (120g), chopped coarsely
• 2 bacon rashers (140g), chopped coarsely
• 4 large ripe tomatoes (1kg), peeled, chopped coarsely
• 1.5 litres (6 cups) vegetable stock
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• ¼ cup fresh parsley sprigs
• ¼ cup (70g) tomato paste

DIRECTIONS

1. Cover beans with water in large bowl; stand, covered, overnight.
2. Heat oil in large saucepan; cook onion, garlic, celery, carrot and bacon, stirring, until vegetables are just tender.
3. Add tomato; cook, stirring, about 5 minutes or until tomato is soft.
4. Stir in rinsed drained beans, stock, sugar, parsley and paste; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, covered, about 1½ hours or until beans are tender. [Can be made a day ahead and refrigerated, covered or frozen for up to 2 months.]

Nutritional Count Per Serving: 16.8g fat; 3060kJ

** This Competition has now finished, thank you to all who participated! **

The two lucky winners for this competition were: Louise and Aleisha.

NOW FOR THE WINNING PART

The lovely people at The Australian Women’s Weekly are giving two (2) lucky readers the chance to win one of their Great Italian cookbooks. All you have to do is answer this simple question in the comments section of this blog post: What is your favourite Italian Meal?

Two (2) lucky winners will be selected and each will win their very own copy of The Australian Women’s Weekly, Great Italian, RRP $29.95, available where all good books are sold and online at www.awwcookbooks.com.au 

Remember, we will be showcasing, trialling and giving away a new cookbook each month, so keep checking back for future giveaways.

Please note:

• Only one entry per person
• Open to Australian residents only
• Two (2)winners will be selected by Kambrook
• The winners will be contacted by email and Kambrook reserves the right to announce the winners on our online site https://aperfectpantry.com.au
• This competition will run from 9am 19th August 2013 to 12pm 25th August 2013

Click here for full Terms & Conditions.

IF YOUR ENTRY EXCEEDS 25 WORDS YOU WILL BE DISQUALIFIED FROM WINNING!