Tomato and bread soup
This variation on the traditional Italian peasant soup made with day-old bread gains a wonderful flavour from garlic, herbs and balsamic vinegar.
Ingredients
Serves: 6
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 150 g (5½ oz) onions, chopped
- 1 red chilli, deseeded and chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
- 1 kg (2 lb 4 oz) tomatoes, cut into quarters
- 600 ml (1 pint) vegetable stock
- A pinch of sugar
- 125 g (4½ oz) day-old white bread, cubed
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves
- Salt and black pepper
- To garnish: fresh basil leaves
Method
Prep:25min ›
Cook:25min ›
Ready in:50min
- Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a saucepan and fry the onions, chilli, garlic and thyme on a low heat for 5 minutes, or until they have softened and are lightly golden.
- Add the tomatoes, stock and sugar to the onions and bring them to the boil. Cover, reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, put the bread cubes into a small bowl, add the vinegar, the remaining oil and 4 tablespoons of cold water and leave them to soak for 10 minutes.
- Purée the tomato mixture, bread and basil together with a hand-held mixer or in a food processor until very smooth.
- Return the soup to the pan, season to taste and reheat it gently. Pour the soup into bowls, garnish with a few leaves of basil and serve.
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Reviews & ratings
Average global rating:
(2)
Reviews in English (3)
Used different ingredients. good quality tinned tomatoes work well as substitute for fresh - 02 Jun 2009
Flavours were good although I did add a squidge of tomato purée to boost. Used tomatoes and herbs out of garden. Found the texture a bit gloopy, guessing its because of the bread content - maybe try adding less. Also, I used a pressure cooker to cook tomatoes, onion, sugar and stock - 2 mins at full pressure. Overall a good recipe. Thanks Brenda. - 06 Oct 2012
This was reallyreally tasty...I think that the trick is in the quality of the ingrediants you use...a really good virgin olive oil, good balsamic, some ripe fresh tomatoes or a some high end tomatoes out of a tin...and you have yourself a really delicious lunch or starter - 02 Jun 2009