Quick tomato soup with parmesan melba
Prep
Cooking 20 Mins
Serves 2
Nothing defeats the winter blues like a warming bowl of soup. It doesn’t need to take forever to make – in fact it doesn’t come much easier than this quick tomato soup with coriander and orange gremolata and parmesan melba.
What you will need
- FOR THE SOUP
- 1 large white onion, finely diced
- 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
- 15ml olive oil
- 400g tin cherry tomatoes
- 400g tin tomato puree
- FOR THE CORIANDER AND ORANGE GERMALOTA
- 375ml beef stock
- 10g coriander – that’s a large handful, finely chopped
- 15ml brown sugar
- Zest of one orange, finely grated
- 22ml Basil
- 1 small clove of garlic
- 1ml Cayenne Pepper
- 15ml vegetable oil
- Natural Everyday Seasoning Shaker Everyday Seasoning
- 30ml orange juice
- 125ml reduced fat cream
- 15ml vegetable oil
- FOR THE PARMESAN MELBA
- 15ml olive oil
- Half a baguette, sliced very thinly on the diagonal
- 30ml orange juice
- Freshly grated aged parmesan
Method
Fry the onions in the olive oil over low heat for five minutes. Add the garlic and fry for a further minute. Add the tinned tomatoes, tomato puree, beef stock, sugar, Natural basil and cayenne. Cover and boil on medium heat for ten minutes. Next stir in the cream. Taste and add some Natural Everyday Seasoning – it contains salt so how much you need to add depends on the salt level of the beef stock you used.
To make the gremolata, combine all the gremolata ingredients.
To make the parmesan melba, place the sliced baguette on a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Use a pastry brush to brush with oil. Bake in a pre-heated 150 degree Celsius oven until golden and crisp – it takes mere minutes so keep and eye on them. Remove from the oven and rub the melba toasties with the garlic clove. Top with a thin layer of grated parmesan and place back in the oven for a further minute.
Serve the soup with small dollops of the gremolata – it’s a smell and taste explosion as it hits the heat of the soup. Melba toasties on the side and it’s time to tuck in.
Recipe concept & photography by Lizet Hartley.
Lizet Hartley is a freelance stills and reel food stylist, food photographer and recipe developer. In her spare time she – rather predictably – cooks. Get more of her recipes on her blog at http://www.melkkos-merlot.co.za
