You know it’s autumn when boxes of tomatoes appear in teh fridge before heading into the oven to be processed. In our home, we make soup – lots and lots of soup! And then we re-purpose that into sauce for pasta or pizza. This is what we’ve done a couple of times already in our home, and we’re loving it. Use whatever seasonal vege you have lurking in the depths of your fridge. A handful of mushrooms adds great depth of flavour and “umaminess” to this simple and hearty peasant food. Let me know if you make some… 🙂
Kalpana. x
SPICY TOMATO (AND MIXED VEG) SOUP
*Asstd Diced Tomatoes – 4 cups (ish)
Seasonal Diced veges – pumpkin, carrots, cauliflower, potatoes – 2 cups
Chopped Onion 1 medium
Garlic Cloves 6
Bay leaf 1
Basil 1 tbsp**
Crushed Fennel Seeds 1 tsp
Anything Mix Spice Blend 2 tsp
Brown Sugar 1/2 tsp
Salt 1 tsp
Freshly cracked pepper (to taste)
Olive Oil / a generous slug
Water 1 ltr
To serve – torn basil leaves / fresh cream
METHOD
– In a heavy bottomed stock pot or pan, heat the olive oil along with the bay leaf.
– When the oil is hot, add the chopped onions and garlic.
– Once the onions turn translucent, add the sugar and let caramelise.
– Stir occasionally (if you stir too often, the onions don’t sit on the hot surface long enough to caramelise and will actually take longer to cook!)
– Add the tomatoes, basil (if using dried), fennel along with salt & pepper and the Anything Mix. Stir in well.
– Cook together about 5 minutes till the tomatoes turn a rich red colour.
– Add the assortment of diced veg and mix till coated in the spicy tomato sauce.
– Add water, cover and bring to the boil. Start with about half the water and add as much to bring to your preferred consistency, while ensuring the veggies are cooked.
**If you’re using fresh basil leaves, add now.
– Fish the bay leaf out and using a stick blender, blitz to your preferred consistency.
– We love this with a drizzle of fresh cream and a sprinkling of some more Anything Mix on top.
Serve with some crusty bread.
This also makes a great base sauce for pasta or pots of chilli, or even a pizza sauce!
(You could always use stock in place of water. Just cut down on the salt.)