After a beautiful month of September, the days are getting colder and darker. The real Autumn has started and so the soup season too. Since we had lots of sunny days recently, we also had lots of local tasty tomatoes on the market. Therefore I decided that our first autumn soup would be a tomato soup with crème fraîche (of course!). This version is adapted from Jamie Oliver's 30 minute meals and is very easy to prepare. And it tastes so much better than a carton soup!
You need:
- 1kg (2lb 4oz) ripe cherry tomatoes on the vine
- 4 large tomatoes
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 2 small red onions
- A few dollops of crème fraîche, to serve
Turn the oven on to 220C/gas 7 and put a large saucepan on a low heat. Put the standard blade attachment into the food processor.
Pull the tomatoes off the vines, but leave some of their green tops on. Quarter the larger tomatoes, then put all the tomatoes into a roasting tray. Drizzle over a good lug of olive oil and season. Halve and Crush in 4 peeled cloves of garlic. Quickly toss everything, then put on the top shelf of the oven for 12 to 15 minutes.
Peel and roughly chop the onions and put them into the hot saucepan with a lug of olive oil and a good pinch of salt. Turn the heat up to medium and leave to soften, stirring occasionally.
Take the tray of tomatoes out of the oven and add everything to the pan of onions.
In two batches, carefully pour the vegetables from the saucepan into a liquidiser. Put the lid on, cover with a tea towel and whiz to a fairly rustic consistency, pouring the mixture into a large pan or serving bowl as you go. Top up with a dollop of crème fraîche.
We had this soup with some
French cheese puffs (or gougères): a real comforting meal!
