Fresh Tomato and Basil Soup

Don’t you think tomatoes this year are fantastic?  Are they always this red and round and shiny?  Are they?  Has it just been such a long time since last summer that I don’t remember how great they were last year too?  Perhaps.

Maybe I’m just so excited about them this year because I’ve discovered the joys of fresh tomato soup.  It had never really occurred to me to make it: Covent Garden do a nice one and I think, subconsciously, I considered tomato soup to be a little prosaic.  Well, it’s not.  It’s ridiculously good.  And I now take offence at my past self for thinking otherwise.  Sniffy cow that she was.

Fresh Tomato and Basil Soup

(serves 6)

Drizzle of olive oil

2 onions, chopped finely

1 clove of garlic, chopped finely

1.5 kg fresh tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped roughly – I do it like this though in a slightly more messy fashion and I reserve the seeds then drain the juice off them in a sieve to add to the pan too.

2 tablespoons tomato puree

Chicken or vegetable stock

Handful of basil leaves, chopped roughly

• Sauté the onion in the olive oil in a large pan until softened.  Add the garlic and cook for a minute more.
• Add the tomatoes and tomato purée to the pan and stir well.  Cook for 10 mins over a medium heat.
• Add enough stock to cover the tomatoes by a couple of centimetres.  Simmer for 15 mins.
• Stir through the basil then liquidise the soup with a hand blender.  Add more stock to thin if necessary.
• Season with salt and pepper and heat through again before serving.

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