Tomato & Basil Soup (No Tin, No Sugar)
Better than the tin and you know exactly how much sugar went into it. None. Ripe tomatoes, good olive oil, a fistful of basil, and one button.
You'll need
- 800 g ripe tomatoes, halved (or 1 tin of good plum tomatoes)
- 1 small onion, quartered
- 1 garlic clove
- 400 ml water or vegetable stock
- 1 tbsp olive oil, plus more to serve
- A generous handful of basil stalks and all
- Salt and black pepper
Method
- Load the jug. Tomatoes, onion, garlic, water and olive oil. Add the basil stalks now they carry most of the flavour and they can take the heat.
- Press Smooth soup. The machine cooks the vegetables down, then blends them glossy.
- Add the basil leaves at the very end. Heat destroys them. Stir them through the hot soup off-cycle, or pulse briefly.
- Season hard. Salt, pepper, and a final thread of olive oil in the bowl.
Never add sugar to tomato soup. If it tastes sharp, it needs salt and fat not sweetness. A pinch of salt and a spoonful of olive oil will do more for a tomato than a teaspoon of sugar ever will. That is the trick every tinned soup gets wrong.
Make it your own
- Creamy: add 20 g cashews at the start instant tomato bisque, no dairy.
- Smoky: a pinch of smoked paprika with the onion.
- Roasted: roast the tomatoes for 20 minutes first if you have the time. It doubles the depth.
Keeps 4 days in the fridge, 3 months in the freezer.