Tomato Soup

Monday nights tend to be soup nights - or as is often the case - surprise soup nights.

The top favourite chez moi is tomato (though this has a lot to do with E's obsession with tomatoes and intense dislike of anything " mushy" which rules out most other soups). Anyway, I always make an extra big batch and freeze it for the nights where cooking is either too much of a hassle or it's just for one.

However, a small oversight (read: laziness) on my part leads us to a bit of a soup lottery, you see, I often don't label what goes into the freezer and has all frozen food tends to look the same, we often have to guess what's what.

Currently we have a choice of frozen red (easy - tomato) or brown (turkey? vegetable? or if you're unlucky, stock?).

So, I'm opting for tomato, and this is how I make it - so quick, easy and low in fat (hence the stock - you need to use it for a little depth). For the tomatoes you can use either 3 good quality tins of whole plum tomatoes (chop them yourself before hand) or you can use lots of (1kg) fresh tomatoes (cherry, vine, plum, whatever) if you have a glut of ripe ones and don't worry about peeling and de-seeding - just chop them to small ish bits, or you can use a combination of both which is the most likely scenario.

Finely chop an onion and 4-5 fat cloves of fresh garlic
Add a teaspoon of olive oil to a heavy-bottomed pan (like a le cruset)
Saute your onion and garlic until the onions clarify
Add in your chopped tomatoes of choice
Mix well and bring to a simmer
Add a pint of stock (personal favourite is chicken, but for the veggies amongst us good quality vegetable or bouillon will do).
Bring to the boil then turn to a low heat, season with S+P - taste it - it it's a little bitter, add a small amount of sugar.
At this point you can either take it off the heat and freeze/eat it - this will give you a fresher flavour.
If you want a more intense hit, continue to cook over a low heat for 30 -45 minutes.

This is quite a vague recipe, but that's all part of the deliciousness of it - fresh or tinned, chunky or smooth - you can make it a million different ways to suits all demands. If I have them, I throw in tinned pomodorini for cute bites of flavour, or sometimes I puree it for a smooth and silky dinner party type soup, or chop up the tomatoes even more roughly for a more rustic charm.

To serve, ladle into soup plates and stir in a swirl of cream or creme fraiche and top with beautifully fragrant torn-up basil leaves.

Update: If your not doing the low fat thing, sautee your onions in a tablespoon of olive oil. Also, to serve, make a little basil oil (blend a few tablespoons of olive oil with a big handful of basil leaves either in a blender or with a pestle and mortar) and stir in on serving, for a more intense and aromatic flavour. Yum!