Thursday 28 February 2013

Tomato soup with garlic and thyme



In our house this soup goes under the name Mooney soup, as I first tasted it at a birthday party in my friend Mooney's house, or The Palace, as she refers to her cosy and small flat in the city centre of Reykjavik. The recipe appeared in the food section of some Icelandic morning paper many years ago and I like the simplicity of it. It doesn't take long to prepare the soup so it's perfect on cold days when you don't have much time to cook. This is basically the original recipe but I have added the red lentils, ground coriander and paprika.

TOMATO SOUP WITH GARLIC AND THYME

INGREDIENTS

  • 1-2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
  • 2 vegetable stock cubes, yeast free
  • 2 cans diced tomatoes (2 x 400 g)
  • 1.2 litres water (about 5 cups)
  • optional: 2 tablespoons red lentils
  • 2 teaspoons thyme
  • ¼-½ teaspoon ground coriander
  • ¼ teaspoon paprika
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • pinch of freshly ground black pepper

METHOD

  1. In the original recipe all the ingredients are put into a saucepan at once but I like to fry the onion and garlic in the olive oil for just a few minutes, until they turn soft
  2. Add the rest of the ingredients and cook for 30 minutes
  3. If you prefer, purée the soup with a hand blender before serving (you can also use a food processor but then it is advisable to allow the soup to cool first and warm it up before serving)
  4. Serve with home-made bread or garlic bread

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