Seeing Red

The garden is full of ripe red tomatoes right now so I can be forgiven for seeing red. They are ripening well with the heat we have been having and a couple of kilograms come in every day or so. More than enough. It is at this time of the summer each year that I always question my thinking in spring when I platned out so many bushes. Rest assured though, I will do the same next spring and face a glut in February and March.

The tomatoes are in all shapes and sizes and if there are too many, they are always appreciated in the poultry pens. It hasn't come to that yet. I'm not sick of making pickles, tomato sauce or chutney yet.

As a change though, I have been making tomato soup. I only make it in the summer when we have our own tomatoes and it is delicious. It tastes just as good from the freezer too and can give you that little taste of summer in the midst of winter.

Summer Tomato Soup

1 tablespoon olive oil

1kg tomatoes, peeled and chopped

1 onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 carrot, chopped

1 handful of basil leaves

500mL stock

quarter cup of cream

Method

Heat olive oil in a large pot. Add onion, garlic, carrot, tomatoes and basil and gently fry for a few minutes until the onions soften. Add the stock to the pot and simmer for about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and puree with a stab blender or in a food processor. Stir through the cream and reheat but do not boil.

This soup is adaptable and quite forgiving. If you like things a little heat, some chopped chilli is nice and coriander works well too. I'm about to make another pot now. It can simmer away while I do abit of outside work in the lovely cool change we are having.
Tracy
P.S. I just spent quite a while peeling the skins from a kilo of small tomatoes and I can offer the advice that it is best to use large ones. Not so fiddly. Worth the effort still even with cherry size.