This is a super easy, quick, cheap, healthy soup that will awaken your taste buds. You don't need to be a pro in the kitchen and you can also adapt the herbs if you want a slightly different taste. Most of you will already have these ingredients in your cupboards so you can cook this up pretty much any day.
This soup was made on the spot so my measurements are a rough guess- it's all about trial and error! But hopefully you too will be able to enjoy this simple soup.
Also to note that I cooked the soup for myself so the quantities are for one bowl, if you need to make enough for two mouths, then double the quantity.
Oh and a tip- with fresh tomatoes, don't store them in your fridge as they won't ripen properly and they can absorb the flavours of your fridge, a little like eggs. Leave them out to ripen to their full potential which add a great sweetness.
Ingredients
2 ripe fresh tomatoes
a quarter of a fresh red pepper
half a red chilli (optional if you're not keen on spice)
half a red onion
1 clove of garlic
a pinch of smoked paprika
a teaspoon of fresh flat leaf parsley (you can use basil if you wish)
half a teaspoon of vegetable stock (I recommend bouillon)
salt and fresh ground black pepper
a drizzle of oil (I used cold pressed rapeseed but if not olive oil)
the juice of half a fresh lime (you can use lemon if you would prefer)
a glug of hot water
First you need to peel the tomatoes. Pop the kettle on and fill a bowl with boiling hot water. Using a knife score all the way around the tomato and do the same on the other half so it makes a sort of X. Place the tomatoes in the boiling hot water for around 15/20 seconds. Pour the hot water out and replace with cold water. Leave to the side to cool.
Next is to prep everything else. I like to get everything ready before cooking.
Finely chop (but don't worry about being neat as you will be whizzing everything up in a blender anyhow) the half red onion, the garlic and the red pepper.
Next peel the skins off the tomatoes and roughly chop the flesh.
Place to one side some chopped parsley.
Heat the oil in a saucepan on a medium heat and add the onion, making sure not to let it catch. Add a splash of cold water to help it soften without browning and stir every now and again. After the onion starts to go a little see-through, add the chopped garlic, chilli and the red pepper and stir. After a couple of minutes add the tomatoes and smoked paprika and stir. Let it cook for a couple of minutes. Add the stock and a glug of water- not too much I would say about a quarter of a cup. Season with salt and pepper and add the parsley. Taste to see if you need any more seasoning but you will be adding lime to the soup so no need to add a huge amount of salt as the lime will add saltiness to the dish.
Allow everything to cook for about 5 minutes- I would say to try to not let the peppers get too soft, they still want some nutrients left in them plus they will be blended anyway. Just before you switch the hob off add the lime juice and stir.
Then simply blend everything (watch out with the blender as the steam can blow the lid off, yes I am talking from experience! So either wait until cool, blend then reheat or blend a little at a time) I then put a couple of shavings of parmesan, a little parsley and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil (make sure it is extra virgin as this is used for dressings only whereas olive oil is for cooking only) which adds another dimension to the taste of the soup.
Voila. Enjoy.
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