Fresh Tomato Soup

Tomato Soup - This is a perfect way to use up overripe fresh tomatoes and a firm nostalgic comfort meal. I love to have this with grilled cheese sandwiches or even some thick crusty fresh bread and butter.  I’ve made this recipe using good quality canned diced tomatoes also and it tasted great. I use potato to thicken the soup rather than a flour roux so that it can be gluten-free, and if you’re vegan then swap the butter for a vegan butter and replace the cream with a non-dairy alternative.  The tomatoes are acidic which is why I add the dash of something sweet to balance that out, and you can add more or less depending on your tastes.

Tip 1 - If you don’t have a great blender I’d say when you’re chopping up your tomatoes try and squish out as many seeds as you can otherwise if they don’t get blended you might have a soup with some seeds still in.

Tip 2 - If you don’t have enough fresh tomatoes to make a batch of soup then just add a can of chopped canned tomatoes to fill it out.

Ingredients:

Serves 4 - 6 

• 2lbs of fresh ripe tomatoes, chopped 

• 1 onion, peeled and chopped

• 1 large potato peeled and chopped

• 2 carrots, peeled and chopped

• 2 tbsp olive oil

• Knob of butter 1oz

• 1 tbsp tomato puree 

• 2 tsp mushroom umami seasoning

• 1 tbsp of maple syrup (or sugar)

• A few fresh basil leaves (optional)

• 1 tsp Salt and a pinch of pepper 

• 1/2 cup cream 

Method:

Heat a large dash of olive oil in a pan with the butter.  Add the onions and saute for a few minutes to get them softened.  Next add the carrots, potatoes, mushroom seasoning, and tomatoes. Stir everything together, add the vegetable stock and leave to simmer for 30 minutes until everything is soft. Add the tomato puree, maple syrup, basil if you’re using plus a big pinch of salt.  

Using an immersion blender or blender whizz the soup in batches until totally smooth.  Pour back into the pan and add the cream and stir together.  Taste to see if it needs extra salt, add some pepper if wanted.  Serve up with some warm bread or even better some grilled cheese sandwiches.