Speedy Tomato Soup with Home-Made Basil Pesto

I don’t know about you but now that the festive period is over, all I can think about is how I need to get some serious fruit and vegetables into my system! We’ve had a wonderful time over Christmas and New Year but nearly 2 weeks out of our usual routines, food and meal plans has left me craving spending some time in the kitchen making fresh and veggie packed food.

Getting back to work on Tuesday meant getting back into new routines, meal planning and a big shop and so now I am firmly back in the land of goodness. Needing a quick and easy lunch for the next few days, I decided to put a new, speedy spin on one of my older soup recipes to come up with this ‘speedy tomato soup’. With minimal ingredients, it couldn’t be more straightforward to put together but the results are so, so good. I’ve used tinned cherry tomatoes here but you can use normal chopped tomatoes if you fancy. Try and use the best quality tomatoes you can get your hands on since the tomatoes make up most of the dish. This dish includes lots of garlic and it’s intentional. I’ve kept other herbs and spices to a minimum so the dish truly tastes of tomato and garlic and the pesto lifts the whole thing to the next level.

The home made basil pesto really is a game changer. It makes a huge batch so you can use in meals throughout the week in anything you fancy. Tossed through pasta, as an addition to garlic bread, tossed through salad as a dressing, the world’s your oyster. The pesto will last 7-14 days in the fridge in an airtight container. You can freeze the pesto too, I usually freeze it in teaspoon sized measures in an ice cube tray so I can just defrost a couple at a time (remember to pop the cubes into a food bag once frozen to minimise storage space). In the freezer the pesto should last 3-4 months.

You can make this recipe vegetarian by replacing the chicken stock cube with a vegetable stock cube and using a vegetarian alterative to parmesan.

POINTS AND NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION

For the Soup – serves 4 – per serving = 4 points or 184 cals, 8.9g fat, 15.9g carbs, 9.2g protein

For the Pesto – this makes around 25 tsp sized portions 

Per serving – 2 points or 56 cals, 5.6g fat, 0.3g carbs,  1.1g protein 

INGREDIENTS

For the Soup 

• 1 white onion, diced
• 5-6 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp light butter
• 3 x 400g tins of cherry tomatoes (or chopped tomatoes – Mutti are the best I’ve tried)
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp paprika
• Pinch cayenne pepper
• 1 chicken stock cube made up with 300ml boiling water (replace with vegetable if vegetarian)
• 80ml single cream
• 50g light mature Cheddar cheese, grated

For the Pesto

• 50g pine nuts
• Juice of ½ lemon
• 2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
• ¼ tsp salt
• 60g basil leaves (two small packs)
• 100ml olive oil
• 50g Parmesan cheese, grated (replace with vegetarian alternative if vegetarian
• Salt and black pepper to taste

METHOD

1. Begin by making the soup. Take a large saucepan, spray with low-calorie cooking spray, and then add the onion. Fry for 4–5 minutes until the onion starts to soften (add a little water if the pan gets dry).
2. Next, add the garlic and butter and fry for another 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes, salt, paprika and cayenne pepper and stir, and then add the chicken stock. Stir, bring to the boil, and then reduce to a simmer for 30 minutes.
3. While the soup is simmering, you can make the pesto. Put all the ingredients in a food processor with 30ml cold water and blitz, adding more water to get your preferred consistency. I like mine so it’s still a little chunky but nice and wet. Pop the pesto into an airtight container and set to one side.
4. Once the soup has simmered for 30 minutes, blitz with a hand blender until smooth (or if you have a bench-top food processor, wait until the soup has cooled a little to blend).
5. Pour the soup back into the pan, add the cream and cheese, then simmer until the cream is well combined and the cheese has melted. Taste and season as required. Add a little more water to get the consistency of soup you prefer. I like it so it’s not too thick.
6. Serve in bowls and top with a teaspoon of the homemade pesto, a drizzle of cream and a twist of black pepper.