This year’s major project has involved the transformation of a back ‘field’ into something more easily identifiable as a garden. It’s involved a lot of mud, sweat and tears, and whilst are we by no means there, there is visible progress. The joy of having a selection of fresh herbs to hand has also been a boon. I was a bit late on as a start to getting any fruit and veggies on the go (with the exception of the native Leith brambles which are ripening very nicely) but the crop of sage, thyme, parsley and rosemary are pretty much never-ending. With this in mind, and a fridge full of sexy organic tomatoes, I went for making a nice summery soup yesterday.
Sometimes my soups are a little ‘too’ hearty, and can be easily mistaken for ‘sauce’ , but I think the consistency of this one was spot on.
Ingredients
3lb of ripe tomatoes – roughly chopped
2 large onions – chopped finely
A couple of garlic cloves chopped finely
1 red pepper, finely sliced
2 carrots – grated
1 floury potato – grated
Sprig of rosemary – very finely chopped (keep a few leaves back uncut for garnish)
Some olive oil
Veggie or chicken stock about 3 pints- I used a Kallo Organic chicken stock cube. Best thing if you’ve not got any home-made stuff handy.
To season: salt, pepper, honey or brown sugar, a couple of shakes of Tabasco and of Worcestershire sauce
Crème fraîche to finish
What to do…
Slug of olive oil in the pan, bring it up to heat, and add the garlic and onions and soften up. Add the tomatoes and peppers and keep going for a few minutes. Add in the seasoning apart from the honey. Add in the carrrots and potato and stir around the bottom carefully, in case it’s all getting tempted to stick. Add a wee bit more oil if need be. Once the veggies are all working together nicely, and the juices are going, add the stock and stir it up. Bring up to the boil and then leave to simmer for maybe 45 mins to an hour. Once it’s had a good chance to get all cooked and soft, give it a taste. If the tomatoes weren’t the sweetest, add a touch of honey.
Blitz the whole lot up with a hand blender, to get rid of the tomato skins and so on.
Serve in a big bowl with a dollop of
crème fraîche. Delish.
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