Tomato Soup with Roasted Peppers and Chilli

We had tomato soup for dinner today. I have not made tomato soup very often, so this recipe came together by instinct and a little experience. It does not need many ingredients, although peeling the tomatoes and charring the peppers takes a bit of work. It is worth it: the soup turned out rich and full-flavoured, with a gentle warmth from the chilli.

You need very little equipment, but a kitchen blowtorch and a stick blender make the job easier. Apart from that, you need a bowl of iced water, a knife and a saucepan.

Ingredients for four

• 10 tomatoes
• 2 red peppers
• ½ leek
• Chilli to taste
• ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 teaspoon marjoram
• 1 litre good stock
• Cream, to serve
• Good bread

• Start by peeling the tomatoes. Bring a pan of water to the boil, cut a cross in the top of each tomato and lower them into the boiling water for 10–15 seconds. Transfer them straight to the iced water to stop the cooking. The skins should then peel away easily from the cuts.
• Char the peppers with a kitchen blowtorch until the skins are black. Put them in a plastic bag and use the bag to rub off the skins. If you do not have a blowtorch, use the grill in your oven, turning the peppers regularly with tongs. This brings out a great deal of their natural sweetness and lifts the flavour of the soup.
• Remove the cores and seeds from the peppers and chop the flesh roughly. Chop the leek. Remove the stalks from the tomatoes and chop them roughly.
• Put the vegetables in the saucepan, add the stock and bring to the boil. Simmer gently for about 15 minutes, until the vegetables are tender, then blend to the consistency you prefer.
• Season with marjoram, chilli, smoked paprika, salt and pepper.
• Finish with a thin drizzle of cream and serve with good bread. Garlic bread is particularly good with this soup. For a more substantial meal, add boiled eggs cut into wedges just before serving.

Enjoy,

Sinnakokken.