In The Kitchen - Fresh Tomato Soup

Easy peasy but very tasty fresh tomato soup was my dinner choice on Sunday evening after our first cold snap.
For me the appeal of this dish is the simple, clean flavours … and not to mention rather cheap to make.
So we start with the ingredients.

A – 8 Medium tomatoes chopped B – 2 slices of onion separated C – Fresh Sweet Basil Leaves
D – 3 Cloves E – Few sprigs fresh thyme F – Butter
G – Himalayan Salt H - Chicken Stock I – White Sugar

So we place a dab of butter in a pot along with the onions and cloves and saute a little bit until golden brown. Add the tomatoes, 4 cups of stock and the fresh thyme.

Bring to the boil and then reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes until all the flavours have mingled.
Pour the mixture into a jug and remove the cloves and the thyme twigs as much as possible. Allow to cool a bit and then add the shredded basil and some salt for seasoning.

In the now empty pot melt TWO TABLESPOONS of butter and slowly add the flour (one cup) and make a roux, cooking on low heat until a golden brown.

Slowly pour in the tomato soup stirring all the while to ensure no lumps are formed. Once the soup is all in the pot, stir in some sugar to counteract the tartness of the tomatoes. This is very much to personal taste as is the amount of salt you add.
Once heated through the soup is ready.

Voila, a beautiful fresh soup is ready for the family.

I served it with croutons and a flat bread purchased from the local grocer, a dabble of cream and some more fresh basil leaves

One can use your imagination a bit by adding roasted garlic, or paprika or a whole fresh chilli which you remove before serving. Very versatile but the taste is clean and absolutely yummy

As always, thanks for reading!!