It’s a blustery autumn day and I’ve just
taken down the tomatoes vines and chilli plants in the greenhouse. In fact, the
best crop this year came from a tomato that seeded itself among the
strawberries outside and spread its verdant tentacles across most of the
vegetable patch. I picked most of the 100+ tomatoes it produced some time ago
and left them to ripen in the greenhouse. Today I have rinsed them, chopped
them (pictured above) and mixed them with a few other ends of veg to create a warming soup. The
recipe is loosely based on my tomato and basil soup, but this version is deliberately somewhat
vague – but that’s because it can be easily adapted to whatever you might have
that needs using up. It freezes well too.
Weigh a mixture of Mediterranean vegetables
(eg. Onions, peppers, tomatoes, courgette, chillis)
The same weight of vegetable stock
A handful of herbs (eg. Parsley, oregano,
rosemary, sage and thyme)
Soya cream/oat cream (optional)
Salt and pepper
Wash and chop the vegetables, add the herbs
and stock. Allow to simmer for at least half an hour until all the vegetables
have become really soft. Allow to cool for about 10 minutes.
Rub everything through a sieve so you
remove all the skins and seeds. Discard that part. You’ll have a smooth soup
remaining - add salt and pepper to taste and stir in a couple of tbsp. of soya
cream/oat cream if you like a creamy taste. Reheat to nearly boiling before you
serve.