I adore making soup and find chopping up veg after a long and stressful day can be incredibly therapeutic. However, this recipe is for when I want a warm and hearty lunch but have limited time – the whole thing is prepped in just 30 minutes because I use a few cheats along the way…
Ingredients:
3 x Large Fresh Tomatoes
2 x Sweet Roquito Peppers
1 x Onion
1 x 400g Tin of Chopped Tomatoes
1/2 x Birdseye red chilies
1/2 x Garlic Cloves
1 x 400g Tin of Biona Organic Mixed Beans
Fresh or Dried herbs – I used a teaspoon of each Basil & Oregano
First thing I do is boil the kettle and I then pop a spoonful of coconut oil in a large pot on the heat. Next I put the grill on high. (apx. 180 – 200 degrees in an electric oven)
Then onto the veg; First, I score my tomatoes in crosses (to break the skin) and when the kettle is boiled I pop the toms into a large pyrex bowl & immerse in the boiling water. This will allow me to skin them with ease – usually I blanch them in boiling water on the hob and wait until the skin starts to curl up but time being short this is a reasonable substitute!
While my tomatoes are steeping I put my 2 roquito peppers under the grill to allow the skin to chargrill and blister and bring out their beautiful flavour and sweetness. Tomatoes can be quite bitter and usually need a pinch of sugar added when cooking but because these peppers are so sweet there is no need in this.
Into the pot of now melted coconut oil I crush 1-2 cloves of garlic to your own taste (I used just the one) and likewise for the chilies (I like a kick so added 2) and sauté for a couple of minutes to release all of the flavours.
One by one remove the tomatoes and peel back the skin with a sharp knife if not curled up enough to let you do this by hand. Do not throw away the water! Discard the skin before chopping up the tomatoes and scraping every bit including the seeds and juices into the simmering pot. This is a good time to add in your herbs – I used dried basil and oregano. Check and turn the peppers if required.
Roughly chop the onion and add to the pot of softened tomato mix. By now the peppers should be beautifully blistered so remove from the grill and chop up removing and discarding the seeds (which can be bitter) and add to the pan.
SO depending on how you blitz a mixture (ie a hand blender, a liquidizer etc) the next step may vary. I used my NutriBullet to do this I batches. First I empty half the contents of the pot with a couple of tablespoons of the reserved water and blitz for a few seconds. Once this has blended down I add half the tin of chopped tomatoes and blitz again. I then repeat this with the second half adding water until you have the consistency you like. Pout back into the pot before adding the drained and washed beans.
I then leave this to simmer for another 10 – 30 minutes (depending on how long I have) and serve up in mugs or bowls. On Friday I left it for a further 30 minutes on a low heat while I checked in with a client and sent a few emails 😉 This makes enough for 3-4 servings.