Cream of Tomato Soup

Simple cream of tomato soup

• Ready In: 45 mins
• Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 2  onions, chopped
• 1  carrot, chopped
• 25  g butter
• 750  g tomatoes, chopped
• 4  tablespoons flour
• 1  liter  chicken stock (or vegetable stock, or water)
• 1  garlic clove, chopped
• 1  teaspoon salt (if your stock is already salted, then you don't need this)
• 1  tablespoon sugar
• 4  black peppercorns
• 250  ml  single cream

Directions

1. Melt the butter in a pan and soften the onions and carrot for about 15 minutes. Stir in the flour and cook for a minute. Add the tomatoes, stock, garlic, salt, pepper and sugar. Bring to the boil and simmer for about 90 minutes. Leave to cool.
2. Take the soup, a ladleful at a time and force it through a sieve, pushing the soft vegetables through with the back of a spoon. This removes all the seeds and tomato skin. No, whizzing it through a blender is no subsitute. It doesn't take long and isn't as tedious as it sounds.
3. Return to the heat, add the cream and check for seasoning.
4. Serve, with a sprinkling of chopped chives.