Too many tomatoes.

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Tomato and Basil Soup

I've been on a quest to make great soups this winter, and I am literally on a roll.
This tomato and basil soup can be made quickly, and it is super tasty, and completely meat-free.

This recipe yields 4 hearty servings.



Ingredients
6 tomatoes
2 cloves garlic
1 red onion
Handful basil
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Vegetable stock cube
2 cups water
150ml cream
Parmesan cheese

1. Wash tomatoes, cut in half, and line a roasting dish, with the cut sides up. Cut the onion in quarter and give the garlic a quick crush with the back of the knife. Sprinkle with olive oil, salt, pepper and chopped basil leaves.

Roast at 180 degrees for about 30 minutes.


2. Remove from the oven and allow to cool a little... Or you will scold your fingers!
Peel the skin off of each tomato, discarding the skin, and throw everything else; juice, oil, onions etc, in a soup pot on a low heat.




3. Add the stock cube and a 2 cups of water. Heat until boiling. Add more basil. Blitz with a blender. Add cream. Stir until combined.



4. Serve with a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese and a couple of basil leaves. I like it with sour dough garlic rolls.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Genius Tomato Soup

I am completely shameless about my prowess at making soup.  I am a genius.  And obviously not humble about it in any way.  I also loooooove soup.  A lot.  Usually I don't like tomatoes, but it was time to break the mold and create the perfect tomato soup.  And I did.

Tomato Soup

Ingredients
1 tablespoon butter
1 red onion
1/2 leek
700gm tomatoes (approx.  I had a baggie of them)
Olive oil
Fresh basil
1 clove garlic
1 pinch ground chili
1 pinch cayenne pepper
Bay leaf
50mls cream
Salt and pepper
2 cups vegetable stock

1.  In an oven proof dish, roast the tomatoes whole.  Drizzle with olive oil, salt, pepper, crushed garlic clove, and a sprig of basil at 180 degrees until the skins split and the tomatoes are soft.  Allow to cool a little, then remove the skins. 

Tomatoes all ready for roasting

2.  Roughly chop the onion and leek.  In a soup pan, melt butter, then cook the onion and leek on a low heat until they are clear.  Add the tomatoes and the juices from the roasting.  Throw away the garlic clove.

Roasted tomatoes ready to join the leeks and onion

3.  Add chilli, cayenne pepper, salt, pepper and the bay leaf to the pot.  Throw in a handful of basil leaves.  Allow to cook until fragrant and the basil wilted. 

4.  Add the stock and boil.  Taste.  Season with salt and pepper to your desire.  Remove the bay leaf.

All in the pot, doing its thing.

5.  Blitz the soup with a blender.  I love my stick blender, its like the greatest thing ever.

6.  When smooth and boiling, turn the heat off.  Add the cream and stir.

Serve with Parmesan cheese.  I love cheese.

What's Growing?

With spring having sprung and summer just around the corner, the garden is finally looking half decent.  After a shocking last year, where very little actual care went into the garden, there were so many other things to do... this year is different.  I hope.

Our best crops last year were easily the chilies and strawberries, with a disappointing show from tomatoes and lettuce.  Honourable mention to cucumbers though, as they did okay.

What you can see in front is the strawberry/dog-relaxation-area patch.  This year I finally have pea-strawed the area, and I'll see how this goes.  Behind is the lettuce patch, with cucumbers and zucchini set to climb the obelisk.  This worked so well last year that I decided to do it again.  At the back is corn, a new crop for us, and tomatoes with basil.  What you can see at the back on the left is the boysenberries and raspberries, and a naughty beagle- who likes to sit on my strawberry patch!

In the 2 beds you cannot see we have the herbs, with parsley and mint doing well, silver beet, pumpkin and peas.  We also have the chilies and coriander in the 'curry' garden.

So far we have only been eating the herbs.  I hope to have lettuce shortly, and if I remember to get a new bird net, some strawberries.