Wednesday 26 October 2011

Want-not Soup

At the end of the season when you've picked the last of the tomatoes and other vegetables, soup is the ideal thing to make. Not only is it nutritious and warming in the cooler weather, it also freezes well, so nothing need go to waste.

My recipe for "Want-Not Soup" is so called for that very reason.  Add whatever vegetables you have spare and every batch you make will be slightly different, which is an added bonus!

These are the ingredients I used to make my batch today:

Now for the method:

Tomatoes form a good basis for the soup. The quantity is up to you but they must first be skinned. I do this by bringing them to the boil in a large pan and as the come to the boil I scoop them out with a slotted spoon and, wearing rubber gloves to protect my hands, I peel off the skin which at this stage should come away without much difficulty. The peeled tomatoes can be put in a separate container until all are ready.


Once the tomatoes are all peeled pour away any water from the pan and return the tomatoes to it. Peel and chop your selection of vegetables (such as the ones shown above) and add these to the pan along with a vegetable stock cube (the Knorr one shown are really good). Then simply bring to the boil, cover and leave to simmer for about 45 minutes or until all the vegetables are soft.


Leave to cool slightly and then blitz with a whisk until smooth, or, if preferred, leave it chunky for a more rustic feel! Sometimes I put it through a sieve to remove the tomato seeds but this is optional.

Serve with a herb garnish or a swirl of creme fraiche:



It is delicious with fresh bread (I'm told!) and will freeze perfectly well until needed.

9 comments:

GaynorB said...

Sounds delicious! My mother used to peel tomatoes by holding them over the maked gas flame.

With Tom away at Uni we eat a lot of soup which I 'slow cook' through the day. If Tim is away on business at the same time I eat mostly soup. I have recently bought the Covent Garden book of 365 soups.....

Whatever happened to the quarter?

John Going Gently said...

i am not a lover of tomatoes but will give this one a go

Tim said...

This looks a wonderful thick soup.... thick enough to bottle! And what variety are the chillis with their fascinating concertina tops? Or are they a long sweet pepper?

Jean said...

Thsi looks delish - we love soup and it's definitley the ultimate comfort food (except for things like jam roly poly etc....).

I love your wiggly chillis - did they grow like that naturally or did you have to encourage them ??!!

Colin and Elizabeth said...

Gaynor, I'm afraid I'm being a bit thick here - not too sure about the reference to "quarters"??
Please could you elaborate for me?

Tim,you're quite right; these are long, sweet peppers. I bought them as young plants from a market stall in L'Ile Bouchard and wasn't sure what to expect.

No, Jean, they didn't need any encouragement from us to go wiggly! The clever little things did it all by themselves!

Colin and Elizabeth said...

And John, I do hope you enjoy it despite not liking tomatoes overmuch!

GaynorB said...

The quarter is an oblique reference to there being 365 and a quarter days for the earth to orbit the sun, hence a leap year every four years. QED! Too much science addles the brain and mine is feeling very addled ....

Anonymous said...

The same soup in our house is called either, "left overs soup" or "kitchen sink soup" because everything except the kitchen sink gets put in.

SP

Colin and Elizabeth said...

Thanks for the clarification, Gaynor, though none should have been needed! It was me being brainless I'm afraid!

SP - we recognise that term only too well. Sometimes think the only reason the kitchen sink gets left out, is that it wouldn't fit in!!