ABUNDANCE: an extract read by Diana Henry

Thursday 11 September 2025

A year ago, I wrote about my daughter heading off to university - the happiest of heartbreaks - and those words made it into my new book ABUNDANCE¹.

The brilliant Diana Henry² has kindly read that extract from the book, and I hope you enjoy it.

And if you have someone flying the nest, the soup below (also in the book) - which I made on that day a year ago - might just help.

Tomato and rosemary soup

If ever two people made a soup, this is it, and if ever a soup sang loud of the end of summer, here it is.

Not only does it taste so completely of the essence of tomatoes - like childhood sickbed Heinz Cream of Tomato Soup (with its tomato soup moustache) does in your memory rather than how it does in reality - it is also the easiest, with everything cooked in the oven. I used ginger rosemary, but regular rosemary will be differently excellent.

For something more of a main course, warm the soup with a few spoonfuls of butter beans or white beans, add croutons, and Parmesan is most definitely your friend here.

Before and after

Makes 2 litres - serves 6-8

1.8kg largish tomatoes
4 cloves garlic, cut into the same number of slices as there are tomatoes
8” rosemary, leaves shredded from the stem
2 leeks
Salt
Pepper
Olive oil
Double cream
Basil, thinly shredded

Wrap the leeks in foil and place them in the top of the oven set to 190°C.

Core the tomatoes with a short-bladed knife, using the thumb of your knife hand to prevent you cutting (the tomatoes or yourself) too deeply. Place them in a roasting tray, push in a sliver of garlic, a clutch of rosemary leaves and half fill each core hole with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and place in the middle of the oven.

Check the tomatoes after 30 minutes or so: you want them softened but not collapsing, and before the skin has blackened. Allow to cool a little. Remove and discard the rosemary leaves.

Check the leeks - they are done when they take a sharp blade with no resistance: they may need longer depending on their size. Tip the leeks into a colander and allow cold water to run over them just enough to cool them to handle. Strip off the outer layer and the base.

Place a leek plus however much of the tomatoes your blender can comfortably take. Blend on high until smooth, repeating in batches until all is blended. Taste and season well.

Pour into a pan and bring slowly to a hint of a simmer, then ladle into bowls, swirl with a little double cream and olive oil and sprinkle with basil.

1. The excellent BookShop.org has kindly offered us 10% off their website price for ABUNDANCE - just use the code LOVEBOOKSHOPS in the discount code field as you go through the checkout process. Valid until 30 September 2025.

2. Diana does few live appearances, so it’s a particular pleasure to be in conversation with her at Limewood Hotel in November. It’s just gone live and only a few tickets remain, here