A simple recipe for simply delicious tomato soup.
The great deep flavour comes from a flavour base of garlic, onion, chilli, bay leaf, carrot celery and Romano pepper. A balance of spices – turmeric, cumin, coriander, saffron and smoked paprika adds another dimension. Plum tomatoes, seasoning, a little sugar, basil, parsley and coriander complete this tasty soup.
This recipe works wonderfully with my Easy Homemade Bread recipe.
Recipe for 4 large portions
Preparation time 15 minutes, cooking time 40-45 minutes
Ingredients and method
4-5 cloves garlic – peel, crush
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 red onion – peel, dice
2 white onions – peel, dice
1 large red chilli – slice (keep seeds for extra heat if you wish)
2 bay leafs
3 carrots – peel, slice
2 sticks celery – slice
1 Romano red pepper – remove stalk and seeds, dice
1/4 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp smoked paprika
Pinch saffron
6 plum tomatoes – cut in half
1 tbsp. brown sugar
1 tsp dried basil
1 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley – plus a little finely chopped as a garnish
Generous handful of fresh coriander – leaf and stalk
1.5L stock – vegetable or chicken
Salt and pepper to taste
Method: heat the oil in a deep soup/stock pot then add the garlic cloves and fry gently for around a minute. Add the onions red chilli and bay and fry for a further 3-4 minutes. Next add the celery, carrot and romano pepper and fry for a further 4 minutes. Add the spices and stir thoroughly so the spices coat the whole mixture, fry for a couple of minutes but take care not to burn the spices, loosen with a little water if the spices catch on the pan. Next add the tomatoes, sugar and herbs and stir thoroughly, fry for a further 3-4 minutes again add a little water if mixture catches on pan. Add the stock, a generous amount of black pepper but only a little salt – more can be added to finished soup. Bring to the boil then cover, reduce heat and simmer for around 30 minutes. After this remove from heat and carefully remove the lid, use a wooden spoon to remove the bay leaf (can be hard to find but is important!), then use a stick blender to blitz into a smooth soup. Taste for seasoning then ladle into bowls, dusting with a little finely chopped parsley as a garnish. You could also for extra refinement pass the soup through a sieve as an optional last step.
Ferret chef 
Published by