How to turn your summer harvest into autumn recipes like this beetroot soup

These recipes for spicy tomato fondue and beetroot soup are perfect for using up summer ingredients

A deliciously silky soup with a rich, vibrant colour – it also freezes brilliantly. Make lots with the end of season beets to enjoy during autumn and winter.

This week’s column is especially for you garden heroes who nurtured your own beautiful produce during the summer and are now faced with more than you can possibly eat. I have lots of tips to preserve a glut of those tasty vegetables, fruit and fresh herbs. One does not want to waste a single scrap of your precious crop.

Because of the rollercoaster weather pattern this summer, tomatoes ripened late so, like us, you may well have a glut of super ripe tomatoes now. We have been making gallons of tomato purée to use as a basis for a tomato soup during the winter months. Tomato fondue and a spicy chilli version are also a brilliant freezer standby to use as a sauce for pasta or pizza, chicken or fish or simply as a vegetable side. I’m never without this. It’s one of my great convertibles.