Divine Tomato Soup

I forgot how fantastic this tomato soup is! Dad used to make it at their Pearl Beach holiday house when friends came up in winter.


We would all rug up and walk down to the beach where the waves were enormous and would crash down so ferociously that the earth would literally tremble beneath our feet, and the water would be churned into foam. Everyone would get back to the little beach house freezing and famished, our eyes stinging with the salt spray, cheeks scoured red from the wind, and hair whipped into a tangled mess.


This soup, served steaming hot into enormous black lacquer bowls was always met with revered silence - the proof of a great dish! - and everyone would beg him for the recipe. No doubt he felt a bit wicked knowing how incredibly easy it was to make, yet how satisfying the result was! It was the perfect start to many beautiful winter luncheons. 

3 cans good quality organic tomatoes
5 cloves of garlic
2 chicken stock cubes
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1tsp sugar
1/2 tsp chill flakes (optional)
a handful of basil leaves, finely sliced
parmesan cheese
fresh bread and butter, or croutons, to serve.

Put the tomatoes, crushed garlic, salt, pepper, sugar, chilli, stock cubes and half a tin of water into a pot and bring to a gentle boil then turn the heat down and let it simmer and the flavours develop for 20mins or so. Blend roughly with a bar mix leaving the soup still a little chunky here and there then put back on the stove until you're ready to serve it. Then finely slice your basil leaves and freshly grate your parmesan using the big side of the grater so you get nice big shredded pieces of cheese.

Make sure the bowls are warmed and the soup is really hot - this is important so the cheese melts a little on the surface of the soup! Ladle into bowls and stir in a decent amount of the beautiful aromatic basil leaves, then sprinkle the surface of the hot soup with a really generous amount of parmesan.

Blissfully easy & utterly delicious!

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