'Abundance' tomato soup with basil oil
Finished with fresh basil
25 mins
Super easy
serves 6
About the recipe
Making your own tasty tomato soup is so easy! Give it your own spin with extra herbs and spices. If your tomato plants are groaning under the weight of all their ripe fruit, or even if you’ve just got some over-ripe tomatoes to use up, then this is a great soup to have up your sleeve. As long as your tomatoes are really ripe you’ll end up with a wonderfully sweet soup no matter what type of tomatoes you’ve used. The basil oil is also great for drizzling over salads, pastas or pizzas so if you want to keep it for a couple of weeks, just strain it through a sieve and store it in a sterile jar.
Ingredients
BASIL OIL
a large bunch of fresh basil, leaves picked, stalks finely chopped
sea salt
200ml extra virgin olive oil
SOUP
olive oil
2 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
2kg very ripe, mixed tomatoes
good-quality red wine vinegar
Top Tip
SOUPER TOPPINGS
Embellish your soups with one of these great ideas:
— Tear stale bread into chunks, toss with olive oil and garlic cloves, then bake for crunchy croutons.
— For cheesy croutons, rustle up a slice of cheese on toast and cut into squares.
— Toss root veg peelings (parsnips, carrots, potatoes, beets) with olive oil and salt, and bake until crisp.
— Finely chop tomatoes, peppers and chillies to make a salsa for dolloping.
— Toast sweetcorn kernels in a frying pan and sprinkle them over.
— Blitz or muddle soft herbs with oil for drizzling.
— Pan-fry beans in a little oil until popped for added texture.
— For a quick pesto, bash up nuts, garlic, basil and hard cheese, drizzle in extra virgin olive oil then ripple through your soup before serving.
EASY SWAPS
When fresh tomatoes aren’t in season, swap them for the same weight of quality tinned plum tomatoes.
Method
- To make the basil oil, pick the basil leaves and finely chop the stalks. Put a few leaves in a bowl of cold water for later, then place the rest in a pestle and mortar. Add a pinch of sea salt and bash the basil leaves until they have broken down into a dark green paste. Transfer the paste to a jug and add your extra virgin olive oil. Mix together well.
- To make the soup, add a lug of olive oil to your biggest pan over a medium heat. Peel and slice the garlic and add to the pan with the basil stalks. Fry for about a minute then add all the tomatoes. Stir in 150ml of water and bring to the boil. Reduce to a medium heat and let the tomatoes cook for 5 minutes until they are slightly broken down. If your tomatoes are nice and ripe they’ll be naturally sweet and soft, which means you won’t need to cook the soup for too long.
- Remove the soup from the heat, add a splash of red wine vinegar then carefully blitz with a hand blender until you get a consistency that’s to your liking.
- Serve in warm bowls with a spoonful of bright green basil oil swirled on top and sprinkled with the reserved basil leaves. You can even eat any leftovers cold from the fridge for a really fresh, light soup.
