How to make Homemade Tomato Soup

How to make Homemade Tomato Soup? This is the alternative to a regular creamed soup recipe because it gives soup the same creamy consistency even though it doesn’t actually contain any cream. I got this idea from the exceptionally busy mother of one of my daughter’s friends, who also happens to be a very good cook, and although she didn’t say where it came from, I’d guess it was originally a wartime recipe, firstly because using basic store cupboard ingredients in place of expensive, hard to- get-hold-of foods was a favourite trick in those days and, secondly, because it sounds exactly like something my most thrifty grandmother would have made - and she used to mash odd bits of soap together and make new lipsticks by melting down old ones… Folow this simple directions:

HOW TO MAKE CREAM OF TOMATO SOUP

INGREDIENTS :

1 sweet potato6 carrots1 large onion1 clove of garlic2 tins chopped tomatoes2 pints (1 litre) chicken stock1 oz (25 g) butter or margarine (approx)1 heaped tbsp flourSalt & pepperOil

DIRECTIONS :

Peel and chop the sweet potato, carrots, onion and garlic; warm a little oil in a very large saucepan and gently fry the vegetables for a few minutes until the onion is soft.Add the chopped tomatoes to the pan and stir well.Meanwhile, melt the butter in a separate (much smaller) saucepan and stir in the flour, mixing well to make a smooth paste; cook it out for a minute.Pour about 1/2 pint (250 ml or 1 mugful) of the chicken stock into the pan with the paste and stir or whisk quickly and continuously for a minute or two to make a smooth sauce.Add the sauce to the vegetables in the pan and mix well, followed by the remaining 11/2 pints (850 ml) of chicken stock, stirring well again.Bring to the boil then turn the heat right down, cover with a lid and simmer gently for about half an hour.Allow the soup to cool then blend in a liquidizer or food processor and season with salt and pepper.

Tip:

Wash out empty plastic milk bottles and use them for freezing home-made stock, soups and sauces.

Unlike food bags, they hold their shape and are easier to stack neatly, and this is a good way of knowing how much stock you’ve got according to the size of the bottle it’s stored in.

Follow this directions carefully. Hope you like this easy soup recipe and Bon Apetit.