Recipe: Tomato soup with chorizo and ciabatta croutons

THE FLAVOUR COMBINATIONS

TOMATO SOUP

1 onion, peeled and chopped

2 celery sticks, chopped

2 carrots, peeled and roughly chopped

750ml (3 cups) vegetable stock

5 medium slicing/heirloom tomatoes, peeled and chopped

2 x 410g tins whole-peeled tomatoes

15ml (1 tbsp) sugar

2 fresh bay leaves

salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

CROUTONS

200g chorizo, chopped

1 ciabatta loaf, torn

small handful fresh thyme, chopped

fresh basil, to garnish

HOW TO DO IT

1. For the tomato soup, mix together the onion, celery and carrots in a large pot over medium heat, and cook until soft, 10 minutes. Add the remaining soup ingredients, put the lid on and simmer over low heat until the veggies are cooked, 25 minutes.

2. For the croutons, fry the chorizo in a pan over medium heat until crispy, about 10 minutes. Transfer the chorizo to a large bowl. In the same pan, fry the bread chunks until browned and crispy. Add the chorizo to the pan and mix to combine. Add the thyme, stir to combine and fry, 5 minutes. Remove from heat.

3. Remove the soup pot from the heat and allow to cool, 10 minutes, before blending until smooth. Pour the soup into bowls and serve with the chorizo croutons and garnish with fresh basil.

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