Plum Tomato and Crème Fraîche Soup [recipe]

[Guest guest]

It's a cool and crisp, yet sunny day here in Edinburgh which has got

me yearning for the combination of a lovely warming soup made with

sunny ingredients. I believe that Cream of Tomato Soup is the

favourite tinned soup in the UK. I used to love it as a child but

these days it's too sweet and artificial tasting for my taste. Its

place in my heart has been taken by Plum Tomato and Crème Fraîche

Soup. This is made by the New Covent Garden Soup Company, who sell a

range of chilled soups in the UK, many of them suitable for

vegetarians. Unfortunately this recipe isn't included in their Book

of Soups so I have had to busk it using the list of ingredients on

the soup carton. I was anxious that I get the recipe right for you,

so I used salt which I was given at the tomb of a famous 14th

century sufi saint/cook in Turkey and which is supposed to bring

success and blessings to the food cooked with it, but any salt will

do, LOL. I have taken a photo which I shall send to Donna for the

files.

 

 

Plum Tomato and Crème Fraîche Soup

 

1 medium onion, finely chopped

2 sticks of celery, finely chopped

40g butter

675g (1 ½ lbs) plum tomatoes, skinned & chopped

600ml (1 pt) water

2 Tbsp tomato paste

½ Tbsp demerara sugar

Pinch of paprika

2 Tbsp double cream

2 Tbsp crème fraîche

Salt

Black pepper

 

Saute finely chopped onion and celery in a saucepan for a few

minutes until softened. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, sugar, salt and

pepper and water. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 20 – 30

minutes until celery is soft. Blend thoroughly with a hand blender

until smooth, add double cream and crème fraîche and return to the

heat for a few minutes to warm through.

 

Serve with a swirl of double cream, or a spoonful of pesto and a few

pine kernels, or some croutons and a sprinkling of grated parmesan.

I think that this soup would also be good if you stopped at the

blending stage and blended in some finely chopped fresh basil

instead of the cream and crème fraîche.