The Classic Tomato Soup

Who doesn't like a nice hot bowl of soup, its everyones comfort food esp when unwell or when its damp, cold and raining outside. It's one of the easiest and healthiest methods of cooking using a few staple vegetables with the option of adding your choice of protein team that with some bread and you have a very flavorsome and healthy meal. There are a whole range of ready to eat soups(can, cup)on the shelves some of them tasting quite good however nothing is better than the real thing! And how easy is it to turn a bunch of cheap vegetables into a delicious homemade soup.

Tomato soup with sourdough bread

Tomato soup is a classic and one of my favorites, its flavorsome, hearty and so easy to make, serve it with some sourdough bread make it such a wholesome meal. I just made my first sourdough bread loaf and then decided to make this soup to have with the loaf. More on sourdough bread and recipes later but go try out the soup its so hearthy. And if you have extra left over soup you can use it as a base for a quick pasta meal.

Check out a short video on how to make this soup at https://youtu.be/AMXY3m0maIk

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Tomato Soup Recipe

Serves:6-8

Cooking time: 30mins

Ingredients:

• Carrots: 2 peeled and cleaned

• Celery: 2 stalks

• Onion: 2 medium sized

• Garlic: 5-6 pods

• Chicken broth: 4 cups homemade or store bought

• 2 cans of peeled tomato in its own juice

• Tomatoes: 2 ripe plump tomatoes

• Olive oil: 2 Tbsp

• Tomato paste: 1 Tbsp

• Parsley: a small bunch washed and cleaned

• Basil leaves: a handful washed and cleaned

• Chili powder: 2 Tsp (optional)

• Balsamic Vinegar: 1 Tsp(optional)

• Sugar: 1 Tsp

• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

1. Chop the onions, carrots and celery roughly, peel and slice the garlic.

2. Put the broth in a saucepan and heat until boiling.

3. Put a large saucepan on medium heat and add 2 Tbsp of olive oil and add all the chopped vegetables and cook for around 10 mins till carrots are softened and onions slightly golden.

4. Chop the tomatoes, add that and the 2 cans of tomato to the pan give it a stir. Add the tomato paste, sugar and chili powder if using mix well add the broth and one cup of water and bring it to boil.

5. Cover and let it cook for 10 mins.

6. Remove the cover add the salt and pepper, add the parsley and basil leaves boil for a min or two. Check seasoning and add the balsamic vinegar, turn off the heat and let it cool.

7. Using an immersion blender or liquidizer pulse the soup until smooth.

8. Bring it back to heat and check seasoning.

9. Serve with a nice bread like sourdough bread and enjoy!