Tomato Soup Recipe

By James Maddock

Updated 30/06/2011

With the increasing desire for more choice and more this and more that, it seems to be fashionable at the moment to have dishes which are over-complicated and crammed with countless ingredients, half of which I haven't heard of before. Now I'm not saying that I don't want to try new things but sometimes you just want to go back to the basics and cook things that you know and love. For me, tomato soup fits the bill perfectly. It really is a brilliantly simple dish and, provided that you use good quality ingredients, can match anything that you get from a packet or tin (well in my opinion anyway!).
When choosing tomatoes for this recipe I would highly recommend using tomatoes sold on the vine. I find they always have the best flavour. Of course in the next few weeks tomatoes will be ripening in the garden and these will be ideal for use in all your soups, salads et al.

Ingredients

• 8 ripe tomatoes
• 1 pint vegetable stock
• 4 small onions
• 1oz butter
• salt
• pepper
• parsley
• creme fraiche or cream

Method

• The first step is to remove the skins from the tomatoes. This can be done by simply putting the tomatoes in a bowl and pouring boiling water over them (see picture 1) until they are completely submerged in water. After 15 minutes of so the skins should come off fairly easily (see picture 2).
• Next put the butter and onion in a large pan (see picture 3) and cook gently for a few minutes, making sure the onions do not brown.
• Add the now skinned tomatoes (see picture 4) and continue cooking for a few minutes. The tomatoes will begin to break down and release their juice.
• Pour in the stock (see picture 5) and simmer the soup for about 20 minutes.
• The next stage to making the soup really depends on your own personal taste or the occassion for which you are making the soup. If you want a rustic texture then the soup can be served now. Alternatively if you want a more refined finish then you can blend the soup (see picture 6) and then pass the soup through a sieve (see picture 7).

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Yield: 2 - 4 servings