Name: Dream of Tomato Soup
Ingredients: Little oil for roasting and frying; 18 fresh Italian jam tomatoes (not canned, as you need the skins for the smokey flavour and darker colouring); 3 large red peppers (deseeded and quartered); 1/2 cup brown sugar; salt to taste; 4 large onions (peeled and chopped); 4 celery sticks (chopped); 1 oz fresh basil (chopped); 1 heaped tsp hot chilli sauce; 1 tsp crushed fresh garlic; 5 cups water; 1 X 4 oz can tomato paste; 2 heapaed Tbsp chicken stock powder; 2 heaped Tbsp onion soup powder; 2 cups non-dairy creamer (for savoury dishes); salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

It was a hectic week, I’d been cooking for Yomtov, broken my arm, had deadlines for articles, and the biggest headache of all: THE SEARCH FOR MY DAUGHTER EDEN’S DANCE DRESS! Anything that didn’t look good was naturally my fault: Why did she have to get my swimming shoulders when she doesn’t even swim? Why did she have to be as tall as me? Perhaps what she should have asked is why they make dresses so damn short these days! We schlepped from one side of Gauteng to the other and if there had been a sea in the middle I may just have driven into it!!

Just dreaming about a hot bowl of homemade tomato soup when I got home, kept me going!

Dream of Tomato Soup

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Servings

Ingredients

Little oil for roasting and frying
18 fresh Italian jam tomatoes not canned, as you need the skins for the smokey flavour and darker colouring
3 large red peppers deseeded and quartered
1/2 cup brown sugar
salt to taste
4 large onions peeled and chopped
4 celery sticks chopped
1 oz fresh basil chopped
1 heaped tsp hot chilli sauce
1 tsp crushed fresh garlic
5 cups water
1 X 4 oz can tomato paste
2 heapaed Tbsp chicken stock powder
2 heaped Tbsp onion soup powder
2 cups non-dairy creamer for savoury dishes
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Instructions

Place a little oil on a large baking pan. 2. Cut the tops off the tomatoes, then cut he tomatoes in half. 3. Place the flat side of the tomatoes on a baking tray and add the quartered peppers. 4. Sprinkle with the brown sugar and a little salt. 5. Place the baking tray in the upper third of the oven under the griller and grill until the tomatoes and peppers are dark brown and their skins are able to peel off easily. 6. Heat a little oil in a large soup pot and fry the onions until golden brown. 7. Add the celery, basil, chilli sauce and garlic and continue to cook until limp. 8. Add 3 cups of the water and bring to the boil. Once boiling reduce the heat and allow to simmer. 9. When all the tomatoes and peppers are cooked and their skins removed, add them, together with the juice they made, to the pot. 10. Add the remaining 2 cups of water, the tomato paste and stock powders and bring to the boil. 11. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 2 hours. 12. Using a hand blender, blend the soup until smooth. 13. Add the non-dairy creamer and continue to blend well until smooth. If you feel the soup is a bit too thick, add a little hot water and a little more stock powder. 14. Season with salt and pepper according to taste.