Chunky tomato soup recipe
Soup is one of the most traditional of dishes on the British culinary scene, and local pot’ vegetables were used in the beginning, perhaps with a little grain or, when they were lucky, some meat. When tomatoes gradually came to be accepted, some two centuries or so after they had been introduced from the New World, they were pounded to make soups or acid sauces or ketchups. Apparently it wasn’t until the twentieth century that we were brave enough to eat these scarlet imports raw!
Ingredients
- 55 g Unsalted butter
- 115 g Carrots - finely chopped
- 115 g Peeled onion - finely chopped
- 115 g Celery - finely chopped
- 2 Garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
- 675 g Tomatoes, roughly chopped
- 1 Handful of basil stalks
- 1 Handful of parsley stalks
- 1 tbsp Fresh chopped thyme
- 1 Pinch of unrefined caster sugar
- 1 Pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 pints Chicken stock
- 150 ml Single cream
- 10 Tomatoes - for the garnish
- 1 Splash of olive oil - for the garnish
- 1 Bunch of chopped fresh basil - for the garnish
- 1 Garlic clove, peeled and chopped - for the garnish
Details
- Cuisine: British
- Recipe Type: Starter
- Difficulty: Easy
- Preparation Time: 5 mins
- Cooking Time: 35 mins
- Serves: 4
Step-by-step
- Melt the butter in a large pan, and sweat the finely chopped carrot, onion and celery together. Do not colour. After 3 minutes, add the garlic, the skins and seeds of the garnish tomatoes, and the chopped tomatoes, along with the basil stalks, parsley stalks, thyme, sugar and some salt and pepper to taste.
- Stew gently for about 10 minutes.
- When almost all of the liquid has disappeared, add the chicken stock, and cook on gently for 20 minutes. Pass the soup and vegetables through a sieve.
- Put back into a clean pan and bring back to the boil. Add the cream and check the seasoning.
- Chop the skinned garnish tomatoes into neat dice. Warm them in the splash of oil with the basil and garlic. Pour into the soup, and serve.
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Recipe is courtesy of Smooth Radio who are raising money for MacMillan Cancer with their Smooth Radio Starlight Supper on Saturday 26th February 2011.