Recipes - Chunky Tomato Soup
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 of ketchups, rarely served raw! We are very keen on tomato soup in this country, usually from a can, but this is a delicious alternative, great on a cold October or November night.
I wish I could tempt people back to making soup. The mentality is that it's too easy to buy them (in packets, jars or cans). But if you make the slight effort to get into the soup-making mode, it is much easier than you think - and it's healthy, thrifty...
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 gently for a further 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, with a swirl of cream if desired.
