Tomato and rice soup, with basil oil — a Honey & Co recipe

What makes a good cook? Is it the ability to perfectly flip a tarte tatin or emulsify a hollandaise? To judge the “done-ness” of a steak or piece of fish? To shuck an oyster or fillet a John Dory? Is it a way with salt and pepper, or maybe a deep understanding of the regional cuisines of Italy, India, Mexico and Turkey? Is it about the knives you have, the special pans or the number of cookbooks on your shelf?

It’s all of the above, for sure. But at the end of a bleak January day when the kitchen is cold and the fridge empty, none of these things matters. The good cook is one who can go into a kitchen and, without much time or effort or any fancy equipment — and using mostly cupboard ingredients — produce a meal of big, clear, comforting flavours that provides sustenance, warmth and deep pleasure.

The good cook is one with a solid repertoire of such dishes, enough to take you all the way through to April.

This recipe is one of ours, to add to yours. It is simple as simple can be to prepare (and, indeed, to shop for — we use dry basil or oregano when there isn’t fresh available) but it’s the clarity and brightness of flavour here that we find so irresistible, as well as the silky, almost porridge-like texture of the cooked rice.

No more than an hour will pass from the moment you take off your coat and throw down your keys until you’re holding a bowl of this steaming red soup. And for most of that time it is quietly doing its thing on the stove, requiring nothing from you except the occasional stir. This leaves you time to make the basil oil as well as some garlic croutons — never a bad idea, if you want to take this simple pleasure to the next level, but it will be just as good without.

Tomato and rice soup, with basil oil

Serves 4

For the soup

For the basil oil

1. Heat the butter or oil in a large saucepan on a medium-low heat. Add the onions, garlic and orange slices. Sauté slowly for six to eight minutes without any colour until the onions are soft.

2. Add the tomatoes, then fill the empty tins with water and pour into the saucepan along with the salt, sugar, basil stalks and rice. Simmer on a low heat for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove the orange slices and basil stalks.

3. Make the basil oil by blitzing the garlic with the basil leaves, adding salt and pepper, and, finally, mixing in the olive oil. Drizzle it on the soup and serve.

Follow Sarit and Itamar on Instagram @Honeyandco