Spicy Tomato Soup

Total Time: 1 hr Preparation Time: 10 mins Cook Time: 50 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 4
• 1 ounce butter
• 1 medium onion
• 1 carrot
• 1 tablespoon plain flour
• 1 lb ripe tomato
• 1 pint water or 1 pint vegetable stock
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 pinch ground mace or 1 pinch nutmeg
• salt and pepper
• 1 teaspoon arrowroot (optional)
• 3 -4 tablespoons cream (optional)

Recipe

• 1 slice tomatoes, onion and carrot.
• 2 melt butter in a medium size saucepan.
• 3 add the onion and carrot, cover, and allow to soften for 5-6 minutes.
• 4 remove from the heat, stir in the plain flour, add tomatoes, stock or water, bay leaf, sugar, mace or nutmeg and seasoning.
• 5 stir until boiling, simmer for 20-30 minutes.
• 6 rub soup through sieve, pour back into rinsed saucepan, and reheat.
• 7 adjust seasoning, and thicken slightly if necessary with a teaspoon or more of arrowroot blended with a tablespoon of cold water.
• 8 reboil to cook the arrowroot if used to thicken the soup.
• 9 add cream if used.
• 10 if cream is added do not boil the soup.
• 11 if required, a teaspoon of tomato paste may be added to the tomato soup for extra colour and flavour.
• 12 serve with crusty bread, the kind that you have to break apart with your hands.
• 13 feel free to dip your chunks of bread into the soup.