Tomato and Basil Soup

Tomato soup...the King of all soups :). I absolutely love the heinz cream of tomato version but it's especially delicious when tomato soup is made from all fresh ingredients rather than out of a can. So yesterday I had a go at making my own cream of tomato soup. Though I have absolutely no idea how to do this so I had to do a little research. This recipe is based mostly on the Jamie Oliver 30 minute meals version of the soup but with a few amendments. It's lovely, fresh and mostly good for you. I served it with home made olive bread and ate it out side in the lovely heat.

I aimed to make this to serve three but there was quite a lot left over. What you will need to make this soup is:

• 1.2kg Tomatoes, you can use any you like but I used beef tomatoes as I like the taste of these the best;
• 1 1/2 Red Onions;
• 4 Cloves of Garlic;
• 1 tsp Lemon Juice;
• Balsamic Syrup;
• Olive Oil;
• 2 tbsp Double Cream;
• 2 Handfulls of Basil Leaves;
• 1/2 tsp Salt, or more to taste;
• Pinch of pepper;  
• 1/2 tsp Sugar; and
• Parmesane shavings, to decorate.

What you need to do:

1. Put the oven on to 180C (fan oven).

2. Quarter and deseed the tomatoes (though you can leave the seeds in if you like), then pop them in a large oven tray and drizzle with olive oil and balsamic syrup and toss the tomatoes to make sure they are coated.

3. Put the tomatoes in the oven to bake for 15-18 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, dice the onion, crush the garlic and put in a large saucepan (big enough to fit all of the tomatoes) along with a good dash of olive oil. Cook the garlic and onions on a medium heat until softened. 

5. When the tomatoes are cooked, strain them out of their juice and peel off the skins (again you can leave them on if you like).

6. Add the tomatoes to the onions along with the lemon juice, salt, pepper and sugar. Cover the saucepan with a lid and leave the tomatoes to simmer for 5 minutes.

7. Now you need add the basil (saving a few laves to decorate) to the soup and then puree it. I used a hand blender to do it in the pan.

8. Finally stir through the cream then serve. Top with the saved basil leaves and parmesan shavings. Enjoy :)