This tomato soup is so intense; there’s no ‘hint’ of tomato, it screams tomato, but intriguingly, for those of us who don’t like the taste of a cooked tomato on its own, it tastes like tomato soup. Weird.
There is no stock propping up the flavour base, so the flavour is cleaner, yet richer. Probably because stock gives a big background flavour, but inevitably drowns the prime performer.
It’s easy to make too. That has to be a bonus.

Another thought. If this tastes as good as it does with ‘reduced in price’ tomatoes bought from the supermarket in a literally snowy and icy January, can you imagine what it will taste like made with home-grown tomatoes in the height of Summer? Woah. I shall be growing nice, big, fat tomatoes this year!

In a large saute pan (with a lid for later), melt a large knob of butter. Add 2 chopped onions and fry over a gentle heat until softened and golden – around 10 mins.
Add 2 cloves of garlic (try 4 cloves if you’re a big fan) and continue to fry for a couple of minutes.

Whilst this is happening, chop 1.5 kg tomatoes. You can skin them if you can be bothered, but the whole lot gets liquidized and pushed through a sieve, so I ignore this step.

Add the tomatoes to the pan

Cover the pan with a lid and gently cook for 20-25 mins. Stir halfway through the time – mine looked like this:

Lid back on and by the end of the cooking time they have collapsed into a chunky soup

Transfer to a bowl and liquidise with a stick blender – or use a liquidiser if you have such a thing

Now for the sieve part. Put a sieve over a bowl (erm… like you’d sieve it directly on to the floor?!) and put a couple of ladels-full of soup in at a time. Stir and press the soup through.

You have velvet beneath and rubble in the sieve. Either chuck this lot in the bin or knit yourself something pretty with it. Up to you.

Return the silken soup to the saute pan and add 150ml milk, or single cream if you wish. Stir. It may taste a bit bitter, but don’t panic.

Add 3/4 tsp sugar, celery salt to taste (I started with about 1 tsp and went from there) and black pepper.
It’s worth remembering that it isn’t sugar that remedies bitterness, it’s salt.
So don’t add more sugar until you’ve salted it.
You can also add some cayenne pepper if you like heat. Continue to cook gently for another 15 minutes or so.

And serve. Preferably with heaving chunks of good bread.

———-

Intense Tomato Soup

PRINT THIS RECIPE (opens in a new window)

knob of butter (around 1 oz)
2 onions, chopped
2-4 cloves garlic, crushed

around 1.5 kg tomatoes, skinned, if you can be bothered, and chopped. Don’t use cherry tomatoes though – too much skin and seed proportionately.

150ml single cream or milk
3/4 tsp sugar
celery salt
freshly ground black pepper

In a large saute pan (with a lid for later), melt the butter.
Add the onions and fry over a gentle heat until softened and golden – around 10 mins.
Add the garlic and continue to fry for a couple of minutes.

Add the tomatoes, put on the lid and cook for 20-25 mins, stirring halfway through, until mushy, soupy and collapsed.

Turn off the heat and remove the contents of the pan to a large bowl and blend with a stick blender. Alternatively, blitz in a blender.

Push and stir the soup through a sieve to remove skin and seeds and generally make the soup smoother.

Return to the saute pan and add the cream or milk. Stir. It may taste a bit bitter, but don’t panic.

Add the sugar, celery salt to taste (I started with about 1 tsp and went from there) and black pepper.
It’s worth remembering that it isn’t sugar that remedies bitterness, it’s salt.
So don’t add more sugar until you’ve salted it.
You can also add some cayenne pepper if you like heat. Continue to cook gently for another 15 minutes or so.