Tomato and Basil Soup

There is nothing nicer during the cold months than a bowl of hot soup and if you’re anything like me, it will be homemade. In this house, we try as far as possible to cook everything from scratch.

As someone who suffers from an intolerance to garlic, it makes more sense to cook everything freshly and I love to cook anyway so it’s not a chore. More another one of my hobbies.

We make them in big batches (usually at a weekend) and freeze to have regular soup available anytime we want throughout the week. Perfect for lunches or light dinners.

Among our go to staples are Lentil, Minestrone and Chicken but this year I’ve been experimenting with a Leek, Ham and Potato and this wonderfully tasty Tomato and Basil.

Sharing this recipe with you all and I can tell you this is super easy to prepare and tastes delicious. Only a few key ingredients and I cannot recommend highly enough to have a slice of Ciabatta with cheese on the side. It is the ultimate perfect combination.

Here’s our ingredients and method below and this should serve 4:

Ingredients:

•  1 medium onion

• 500 ml ham stock - I usually melt 2 Knorr stock cubes in the 500ml

• 2 large cans chopped tomatoes

• 6 fresh tomatoes

• 1 pack basil

• 1 tablespoon olive oil

Method:

• Blanche fresh tomatoes in boiling water, peel and chop into quarters

• Sprinkle the tomatoes with a drizzle of olive oil, salt, pepper and basil and roast for 15 minutes at 200 degrees

• Finely chop the onion and fry in the olive oil

• Add the stock and tinned tomatoes and simmer for 5 minutes, then stir in the basil (roughly chopped)

• Add the roasted tomatoes and simmer until ready

• Add salt and pepper to taste as desired and some dried basil for seasoning

• Blend with a stick blender

You can also add a red bell pepper for added taste. If doing that, roast the chopped pepper with the fresh tomatoes.