Don’t you think tomatoes this year are fantastic? Are they always this red and round and shiny? Are they? Has it just been such a long time since last summer that I don’t remember how great they were last year too? Perhaps.
Maybe I’m just so excited about them this year because I’ve discovered the joys of fresh tomato soup. It had never really occurred to me to make it: Covent Garden do a nice one and I think, subconsciously, I considered tomato soup to be a little prosaic. Well, it’s not. It’s ridiculously good. And I now take offence at my past self for thinking otherwise. Sniffy cow that she was.
Fresh Tomato and Basil Soup
(serves 6)
Drizzle of olive oil
2 onions, chopped finely
1 clove of garlic, chopped finely
1.5 kg fresh tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped roughly – I do it like this though in a slightly more messy fashion and I reserve the seeds then drain the juice off them in a sieve to add to the pan too.
2 tablespoons tomato puree
Chicken or vegetable stock
Handful of basil leaves, chopped roughly
- Sauté the onion in the olive oil in a large pan until softened. Add the garlic and cook for a minute more.
- Add the tomatoes and tomato purée to the pan and stir well. Cook for 10 mins over a medium heat.
- Add enough stock to cover the tomatoes by a couple of centimetres. Simmer for 15 mins.
- Stir through the basil then liquidise the soup with a hand blender. Add more stock to thin if necessary.
- Season with salt and pepper and heat through again before serving.
Simple quick to make and beautifull and tasety. Nice one yumee yumee
I’m sure they’re tastier this year! Soup looks delicious too x
Lovely.
A splash – a ‘healthy’ one – of good whisky is gorgeous with fresh tom soup. X
i’m not a fan of tomatoes in general and i tend to shy away from tomatoeish dishes. but this does look lovely and i’m guessing the basil does wonders:)
(here i go again, seems like i was logged in elsewhere when i left reply above, ah well) – i’m not a fan of tomatoes in general and i tend to shy away from tomatoeish dishes. but this does look lovely and i’m guessing the basil does wonders:)
First time commenting on your blog, love it btw. I’ve just recently got into cooking and i’m finding your blog pretty interesting.
I’m a picky eater and have had a pretty limited palate though, one of the reasons I have got into cooking is to try and expand on that. Over the last year or so I have started to expand on what I eat but i’m not a big fan of tomatoes(as I found out the first time I ate a curry I accidentally ate a tomato mistaking it for a bit of chicken…). I do however like tomato sauce, tomato flavoured crisps…even small slices of tomatoes on pizza and I do like tinned tomato soup.
I have been told though that home made tomato soup tastes nothing like the tinned stuff and is a lot more flavoursome than the stuff you can buy pre-made. Do you think it’s worth me having a go?
We had a bit of hot and I think that helps the tomatoes taste lovelier. Your soup has made your lovely tomatoes lovelier still.
do like basil too.
Lovely photo at the top Wendy and I do like the recipe. Like your old “sniffly” self, I was always very dismissive of tomato soup as well, thinking why waste a beautiful tomato on soup of all things. Until I made a chickpea and tomato soup for the Autumn An Honest Kitchen. Then I got it.
Mmmmmmmmm, comfort food. Lovely
I too keep my tomatoes on the windowsill.. I think it really makes a difference. They were tasteless when kept in the fridge.
Traveler – Thank you!
Domestikate – Knew I was right!
Lucy – Hmmmm, I hate whiskey. Will try it but I’m not holding out any hope!
Pia – It is lovely, indeed. The colour makes me so happy too.
Sean – It’s absolutely nothing like the tinned stuff at all and just that bit fresher and less salty than the carton soup we have available here. Do recommend trying it.
Good luck with the cooking!
Bron – No hot for us up here, unfortunately. Just as well most of the tomatoes come from southern England.
Jacqueline – Agreed.
[...] starters Wendy at A Wee Bit of Cooking comments on how great the tomatoes have been this year and gives us a simple recipe for tomato and [...]
Hi,
Might give this recipe a go as I have a pile of home growns that need using up.
Cheers
Your soup looks delicious! I love fresh tomatoes especially when they are straight from our greenhouse – a really good year for toms. I have a tomato soup recipe on my blog using 5 different varieties of homegrown fruits – http://hollygrovekitchen.blogspot.com/2010/08/tomato-fest-soup.html
[...] sites that came up was called A Wee Bit of Cooking which is a Scottish food blog and it had a fab tomato & basil soup recipe. I won’t repeat the recipe here, go over there and have a [...]
Do not forget – it freezes well too !
Ideal for dealing with the late August annual glut (:-)
try using dill instead of basil sometime… it’s a great little twist on an already fantastic classic!
Lovley jubly!
this soup is brilliant with some crispy bread for on the side with some butter you need to try it!!!!
!!!!
I just made this and adapted the recipe for 1, its so much fun and incredibly tasty. I hope you don’t mind that I posted my adapted version (had to do a bit of tweaking to coincide with what I had in the cupboard as it was such miserable weather today!)
x
http://amyeatsandotheradventures.wordpress.com/
I linked your blog. Thankyou !
[...] wholemeal bagel, cheese, tomato and basil, I looked up a recipe for tomato and basil soup and found this: by Wendy from A Wee Bit of Cooking. Why didn’t I think of this sooner [...]