Soup-erb

Roasted Tomato Basil Soup

This soup is the perfect start to any meal. I chose to share this soup recipe because it could make your heart warm with a smile on the face; also owing to the fact that this was the first recipe that was taught to me by my Chef , when I first started out as a Line Cook. What's also good is that The Roasted Tomato Basil Soup takes less effort with cost efficient ingredients that requires limited space to work on. Soup-erb Isn't It?

Take a quick route by charring them on a pan; or slow roast them in an oven if you have enough time. You could use Roma or San Marzano tomatoes. In this recipe, I tried keeping it very Basic & Rustic by using fresh Roma Tomatoes. Doesn't get any better than this..!

1 Kilo Roma tomatoes, quartered

4 cloves Garlic,peeled

2 tbsp Olive Oil

1/4 cup packed Basil Leaves

1l Vegetable Stock (recipe given)

2 sprigs Fresh Parsley

Parmesan Cheese, grated

1 Tbsp Butter

Salt to taste

Black Pepper

Vegetable Stock

100g Onion

50g Carrots

30g Celery

30g Leek

1.5l Cold Water

Spice Bag (Bayleaf, Peppercorns, Thyme, Parsley stalks)

1. Roughly Chop all the Vegetables.

2. Sweat onions. Add the carrots,celery & leek and fill the stockpot with Cold water.

3. Bring to boil for 5 minutes and then add the Bouquet Garni (spice bag).

4. Simmer for 30 minutes. Skim if necessary.

5. Strain & use.

Equipment Required:

Stock Pot

Colander

Ladle

French Knife

Cheese Cloth

Saucepan

Cutting Board

Mixing Bowl

Peeler

Instructions:

1.Quarter tomatoes;add Olive oil, Garlic, Salt & Black Pepper and toss them in a mixing bowl.Give them a nice toss until the oil and seasoning coats the tomatoes.

2.Bring a fry pan to heat and add the tossed Tomatoes. Sprinkle, Rosemary, Parsley and the basil.Toss them on a good flame until charred and the skin starts peeling.

3. Once the tomatoes are roasted with the herbs, add Vegetable stock and simmer for 30 minutes.

4.The tomatoes start disintegrating while on simmer. During this stage, remove the mixture from heat and puree it in a food blender or manually pass it to a bowl with the help of Colander.

5.The Soup is ready to go back on to simmer to make sure the tartness of the tomatoes is minimized. Add grated Parmesan cheese and check for seasoning.

6. Garnish with Deep Fried Basil Crisps & Garlic Croutons. Serve piping hot. Buon Apettito!

After trying and testing this hearty soup too many times in the kitchen there is less room for error; because of the mistakes that were rectified with a few years of cooking and building Flavor Profile. I felt the soup ticked most of the desired attributes a soup should possess i.e, Aroma, Appearance (colour,appeal etc.), Taste, & Mouthfeel(texture,temperature etc).I caught a good whiff of the tangy tomatoes and the concoction of Garlic, Basil and Rosemary.

The consistency was a good flow coating the back of the spoon enough to whet the eye.

My Sister, Rochelle D'Silva who tasted the soup thought that I did a good job except for the fact that I didn't have a good Grissini or a Garlic Croute to go with it.

The Challenges I faced in the build up of this soup was an oven that wasn't functioning. I had to take a different approach by charring the tomatoes on a fry pan instead. Parmesan cheese was scarce; when I had plans to garnish it with a Parmesan Crisp.

This particular task of making a soup and documenting it is definitely benefiting. One learns how to master a skill, to build a discrete flavor profile if not a good one, and also gets an insight into what Cooking is in real when he/she faces criticism.Above all, I could say the seriousness of this blog assigned to me has only helped me polish my knowledge in Cooking.