When I met him first, Mr Saturday Night used to regale me with tales of coming home from Games on a Saturday morning and having an entire tin of Heinz Tomato soup for lunch. More recent forays into the world of Tomato soup had proven rather disappointing, I fear.
Disappointing that is, until today, when I whisked up this batch of soup using tinned tomatoes. It’s loosely based on a recipe by Deb Perelman of the Smitten Kitchen, but instead of oven-roasting the tinned tomatoes, I just jumped straight in…
So, here’s my version of Grown-Up Tomato soup; ‘grown-up’ because it’s got a drop of Brandy in it. Oh, and a dollop of cream too. It’s seriously delicious…
EQUIPMENT:
- A large saucepan.
- A chopping board and a sharp knife
- A hand blender or Liquidiser
INGREDIENTS:
- 4-5 Shallots, very finely chopped
- a good knob of butter
- 1 tablespoon of Sundried Tomato Paste
- A pinch of ground Allspice (not to be confused with mixed spice)
- 2 tins of Tomatoes – I used the ‘finely chopped’ variety
- 1 pint/500mls Hot Chicken or Vegetable stock
- Salt, to taste.
- A pinch of Cayenne Pepper
- 1-2 dessertspoons of Brandy
- A swirl of whipping cream
METHOD:
- Melt the butter in the saucepan.
- Add the finely chopped Shallots, Tomato Paste and Allspice.
- Stir well, cover, cook for about 10 minutes.
- Make up the Stock.
- Once the Shallot mixture has broken down a little, stir in most of the Stock.
- Add the Tomatoes.
- Use the last of the Stock to rinse out the tins and add to the pot.
- Cook for about 5 minutes, then remove from the heat and blitz with a hand-held processor until smooth.
- Taste, and add salt and the pinch of ground Cayenne pepper
- Stir in the Brandy.
- Heat until it’s piping hot, then ladle into heated bowls and top each one with a swirl of cream.
- Watch the facial expressions change from ‘Meh, Tomato Soup’ to ‘Woah, what’s this?!’
NOTES:
- Even starting from scratch today, this took me about 20 minutes to make, from start to finish – great for an impromptu lunch.
- If you’re going to serve the whole pot immediately, add the cream and stir it in before you serve the soup. If you’re keeping it for later, add the Brandy and Cream just before serving
- If you’re thinking about freezing it, just freeze it without the brandy or Cream, and label it carefully, reminding yourself about the additions required.
I started writing down recipes in an old copybook when I was about 16. With 6 children at home, my Mother was always glad of a hand in the kitchen, and really allowed us to experiment - as long as we washed up afterwards, and left the kitchen immaculate! Having a tidy kitchen has followed me through my life, as has the habit of writing down my favourite recipes; except that these days I write them for my website, and add photographs when I can. The website really started when it occurred to me that my daughter might like to have these recipes when I've forgotten them. In my early days of cooking for family and friends, I used to phone my Mum all the time to ask her for the recipe for some of our favourite family dinners. She rarely had a recipe to hand - I think, like me, she made a lot of it up as she went along.. So welcome to Eating for Ireland - these are the recipes that my friends and family having been eating these past 40 years.. yes, I truly am ancient! They are tried and tested, and have worked for me for all that time - I have updated them as new ingredients became available - I really hope you'll find something that you can make into a family favourite of your own. You don't have to tell anyone where you found these great new dishes that you're serving up - it can be our little secret, but I'd really love it if you could give me a sneaky 'follow' on Facebook and Instagram.. So off you go - have a good rummage around, you're bound to find something new! My sincere thanks to all of you who have found a recipe that you liked and dropped me a line to tell me - I really do love to hear from you! Happy Cooking! Becks xx