Mals Lazy Tomato & Basil soup

Tomato & Basil Soup Garnished with Blackpepper & Basil

This tasty warming soup is filled with nutrients, and loaded with heart healthy Lycopene. This is a compound found in tomatoes, and the potency of it is actually enhanced by gently cooking the tomatoes for over 20 minutes. The onion and garlic also add to the cardiovascular benefits of this rich soup, especially if you set them aside exposed to the air for at least 5 minutes after chopping. This allows the oxygen in the air to bind with and further enrich the sulphur containing compounds that are involved in many of onions health benefits. Anyway, that's enough science, here's what you need...


Ingredients

Tomatoes in the shape of a heart

2-3lbs / 1-1.5kg ripe tomatoes (beef are best)

1 - 1.5 yellow onion

1 or 2 carrots 

2-3 cloves of garlic 

(2 tsp of tomato purée) optional

(0.5 - 1 cup of red lentils) optional

A handful of fresh basil

Salt & black pepper 

2-3 pints / 1 - 1.5 litres of stock of your choice 

2 tbsp of olive or sunflower oil

Sugar or agave syrup.

Method

Chop onions& garlic & put aside

Chop carrot

Heat Oil over medium heat.

Chop tomatoes into quarters, removing any hard cores, these may not soften with cooking. 

Gently cook onions & garlic until soft.

Add tomatoes and carrots, and allow to gently bubble for about 10 mins, stirring occasionally. Add a pinch of sugar, salt and pepper.

Add the stock, most of the basil, and the lentils, and bring to a simmer.

Add more sugar, salt & pepper and allow to simmer very gently for about 20 minutes.

Remove from heat, taste and add more sugar/salt/pepper to balance the flavour to your liking.

To blend, either use an immersion blender (soup stick) or 1/2 fill a blender, close the lid tightly AND hold it in place while you blitz the soup to an even consistency. Empty into another large pot & repeat until all the soup has been blended.

To serve garnish with a little of the leftover basil leaves.

Sprigs of fresh basil from my garden

Note: tomatoes have quite an acidic sharpness to their flavour, the sugar is added to balance this. Don't worry about the calories, I used a single sachet of sugar while making this, and that was enough for about 6 decent portions made using  1.2kg of tomatoes. You can also use this tactic to improve the flavour of any homemade tomato based sauce, e.g. for pizza or pasta. Don't use honey, as it has quite a strong flavour of its own.