I have made tomato relish (very yummy with cold meat and salad). Tomato ketchup, spicy and thick, great on the pie and sausage roll (I was very pleased with myself). Tomato and capsicum (yes, the capsicums went well also) pasta sauce (with a little chilli) and today, ta dah, tomato soup.
3 kg Tomatoes, any kind, I used Black Krim, Roma, Tigarella, Bulloch Heart and Mortgage buster.
2 large onions (chopped)
4 sticks celery (sliced finely)
1/2 kg pumpkin (chopped small)
4 medium cloves garlic (I used purple garlic that I had grown, it is stronger) Anyone want some garlic I have heaps.
1/2 big green capsicum. (yes I grew that too)
1 tablespoon Mixed herbs
1 Teaspoon black pepper
2 Teaspoons salt
1 Teaspoon paprika
2 Teaspoons vegetable stock powder
1 tin coconut cream
4 tablespoons canola oil (you can use vegetable oil or olive oil it is just to fry the onions and garlic)
First, peel your tomatoes. You do this by making a cut in the bottom of the tomato and then placing it in boiling water for a minute, remove from water with fork and the skin will have opened up at the cut, you just peel the skin off. If it does not come off easily just return the tomato to the boiling water until it does.
Heat oil in a large pan. Gently fry the onions and garlic until tender. Add all the spices and heat for a minute or two, just to release the oils and aroma.
Add the capsicum and celery and cook for a couple of minutes just to distribute the flavours.
With clean hands squish all the tomatoes up and put them into the pan with the onions and garlic mix. (you don't have to do this with your hands, but it is very therapeutic. You can just put the whole tomatoes in the pan and mash with a potato masher.)
Bring the mixture to the boil and reduce the heat.
Add the pumpkin and stock powder and 2 cups of water.
Simmer until the pumpkin is soft enough to be mashed, stirring often. (To achieve a really low simmer, I use a simmer ring, it spreads the heat over the bottom of the pan and you don't end up with hot spots)
Add coconut milk and gently simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring often.
Blend soup with a stick blender or in batches in a jug blender. Be careful it is hot!
Return to pan and simmer gently for further 15 minutes. Sieve the mixture to remove all the seeds. Make sure that you push as much as possible through the sieve so you don't waste the good stuff.
If the soup is too thin, just simmer gently, uncovered until reduced and thickened. Taste test, if needed add a little extra salt.
Hubby had two bowls.
FREEZE THE LEFTOVERS FOR A QUICK LUNCH.
********
The pumpkins did not do so well this year, so the pumpkin soup will be in short supply. The beetroot have already been bottled and the beetroot relish made as well.
The lettuce were a bit sad also, I guess the nutrient was all washed out of the soil from the floods last year so time will be recovery along with lots of organic matter, compost, manure and lots of TLC.
Coming up this season, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, more beetroot, carrots, parsnips (if I am lucky) and more garlic.
Hope you try the soup and that you enjoy it. No preservatives, no additives.
