10 tomatoes… 3 beans!

Yes just 3 beans! We won’t be winning any awards for our beans this year but the tomato plants are just loaded. Despite early promise the beans have failed spectacularly whilst the tomatoes have grown like wild things and the big surprise for any British gardener is that they do so well outside; no glass in sight! No patient nurturing and doing battle with the insects…. just plant and watch them grow.

Of course I still have to out wit the 'nutty dog' to make sure I get to the tomatoes before he does...

On the weekend I collected several pounds of ripe tomatoes so its fantastic Tomato Soup time, then traditional french Ratatouille with fresh tomatoes instead of tinned, then later I will make some tomato sauces to freeze. And finally when the weather changes (I pray that won’t be for a few weeks yet) and the last few pounds won’t have enough sun to ripen I’ll pick them green and make scrumptious Green Tomato Chutney to last through the winter.

I use an old Delia recipe for Tomato Soup which is quick and easy and beats the flavour of a tin of soup by miles. I have modified the original recipe through trial and error to make the method even easier (Delia’s Complete Cookery Course is a permanent companion in my kitchen, and a starting point for anything I’m not sure what to do with… )

(Better than the well known tinned variety) Tomato Soup

750g ripe tomatoes (mark a cross on the bottom of each tomato and dip in boiling water for a few seconds, rinse off under cold water and remove the skins, then roughly chop the tomatoes)
1 medium onion (preferably a red onion but any one will do) finely chopped
1 medium potato diced
Olive Oil
275ml of good vegetable stock
2 fat garlic cloves crushed

Basil and Cream or Basil Oil and Parmesan to finish

In a large heavy based saucepan heat a large slug of olive oil, add the onion and diced potato and over a medium heat soften them slowly without browning.

When the onions and potatoes are soft add the garlic and cook with the onion for a minute or so then add the chopped tomatoes stirring them in well and cooking for a further minute. Add the stock and season with salt and pepper. Cover and leave to simmer for about 25 minutes.

Take the pan off the stove and carefully pass the soup through a sieve to remove the pips and any hard tomato cores. Return to the saucepan check the seasoning and re-heat.

Here you can get creative, sometimes I like to add ripped basil leaves and/or a large slug of cream and heat very gently. Sometimes I prefer to leave the soup plain then when it is hot pour into heated dishes and drizzle a little basil oil (or garlic oil or other fragrant flavoured oil) and add parmesan shavings to the top.

Always serve with plenty of bread… french if you can get it of course!