← Nouns Cooking · Soup Pot

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp Olive oil
• 1 Onion, chopped
• 1 small carrot, chopped
• 1 celery stick, chopped
• 2 cloves Garlic, sliced
• 1.2 kg ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped
• 2 tsp Tomato purée (paste)
• 1 tsp Sugar
• 2 Bay leaves
• 1 l hot vegetable stock
• 1 handful Basil, to serve (optional)
• Salt
• Black pepper

Method

1. Warm the oil in a large pan over low heat. Add the onion, carrot, celery and garlic, cover and let them sweat for 10 min, stirring now and then, until soft but not coloured.
2. Stir in the tomato paste, then add the tomatoes, sugar and bay leaves. Cook with the lid off for 10 min, until the tomatoes collapse and look jammy.
3. Pour in the stock, bring to a simmer and cook for 15 min.
4. Take out the bay leaves and blend until completely smooth. For an extra-silky soup, push it through a sieve.
5. Reheat gently, season with salt and pepper, and add a pinch more sugar if your tomatoes were a little sharp. Serve with torn basil and a swirl of olive oil.

Tips

• Out of season, swap half the fresh tomatoes for two 400 g cans of plum tomatoes; the flavour stays bright.
• A splash of cream at the end is lovely, but then it is no longer vegan. Check the stock is gluten-free if you need it to be. Cool leftovers quickly, refrigerate within 2 hours and reheat until piping hot.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

BBC Good Food Love and Lemons