Sunday, 22 November 2015

Waste not, want not: tomato and mascarpone soup

Nice and creamy.  Very tomatoey.  Uses up leftover bits that would be thrown away otherwise.  And - you know - tomato soup.  Scrummy.

What's not to like?

I had:

  • three bought tomatoes that were definitely too squidgy to eat raw.
    Not at all like these!
  • several home grown tomatoes, tiny little ones, that have been ripening on the window ledge and were ditto. The last of the crop, in fact.  I guess it must have amounted to seven or eight normal sized tomatoes.  Alternatively you could use a can of chopped tomatoes but then it wouldn't be using leftovers quite so much.
  • about a third of a little jar of tomato and marscapone stir in pasta sauce (great value from Aldi).

They went together so this is what I did in my conventional 'let's make soup' way.

Ingredients to make two big bowlfuls or three smaller bowlfuls
one onion, peeled and chopped
a bit of butter
Squidge of garlic
the tomatoes, chopped
the last third of a jar of tomato and masarpone sauce
a vegetable stock pot
some pepper
a pinch of sugar
boiling water
salt if needed

Method
The Thermione way
Saute the onion in the butter for 5 mins/ speed 1 or 2
Add the remaining ingredients apart from the salt.  Take the water up to the 1 litre mark
Cook at Varoma, speed 2, 15 minutes.
Zizz at 10 for 1 minute
Check seasonings and add salt if necessary.  I added just a pinch.
Bring back to boiling and serve.

The normal way
Saute the onion in the butter for 5 mins in a saucepan
Add the remaining ingredients apart from the salt.  Add enough water so that there's about a litre altogether.
Bring to a simmer and cook, covered, for about 15 mins.
Blend well with a stick blender or in a blender
Check seasonings and add salt if necessary.  I added just a pinch.
Bring back to boiling and serve.

You could add favourite herbs.  Basil is supposed to go well but I'm not terribly fond of basil.
If it's a bit 'thin', add some instant mash.
It could be served with a dollop of cream or creme fraiche and you could add a bit more mascarpone, if you had some.
This freezes well.




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