Tomato soup is everywhere; on restaurant and cafeteria menus, tinned or bagged on shelves in supermarkets, in powdered form, in powdered one-mug form… And in my experience, nine times out of ten it’s a complete let-down. The last tomato soup I ate in a lunchroom was probably just tomato purée watered down, then smothered in cream. I’m pretty sure no fresh tomato ever went near it. 
Why is that, when nothing could be easier than making a basic fresh tomato soup? I suspect it has a lot to do with many people being completely out of touch with proper, home-made food and not knowing how things are actually supposed to taste.
But I’m not here to preach, I am here to give you a basic, yet delicious, recipe for freshly-made tomato soup. 😉 So here goes.
Ingredients
500 g tomatoes (about six medium-sized ones)
1 onion, roughly chopped
1 large clove of garlic, roughly chopped
1 tbs tomato purée
750 ml vegetable stock
Preparation
– Slash the tops of the tomatoes cross-wise with a sharp knife and put them in a snug-fitting bowl or container. Pour on enough boiling water to cover and let stand for a few minutes.
– Drain tomatoes and skin them when cool enough to handle.
– Roughly chop the tomatoes (I use the food processor for this).
– Heat olive oil in a pan and fry the onion and garlic for a few minutes.
– Add the tomato purée and fry for a few more minutes.
– Stir in tomatoes and stock and bring to the boil, then turn down and simmer, lid on, for about 20 minutes.
– Let cool slightly and blitz with stick blender, food processor, whatever you have.
– Reheat and serve.
The Vegetable Chopper 