How to Cook Spicy Tomato Soup

Serves: 6

Preparation time: 10 mins

Cooking time: 50 mins

Ingredients needed to make Spicy Tomato Soup:

• 2 cans (28 oz each) whole tomatoes
• 1 small yellow onion, peeled, halved and chopped into ¼’’ thick slices
• ¼ cup fresh basil leaves, loosely packed
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 ½ cups water
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• Sour cream, for serving

Cooking instructions for Spicy Tomato Soup:

• Drizzle the olive oil into a large saucepan and heat it over moderate flame until it begins to shimmer.
• Toss the onion slices into it and sprinkle the red pepper flakes on top.
• Sauté the onion for about 10 minutes, stirring periodically, until it softens and turns lucid.
• Empty the can of tomatoes into the pan, along with the juices, followed by measured cups of water.
• Stir them all together until well combined and bring the mixture to a boil.
• Reduce it to a simmer and continue to do so over slow flame for half an hour or until the flavours are infused into the mixture.
• Fold in the basil and season with a dash of salt and fair amount of black pepper.
• Give it a nice stir to mix well and turn off the heat.
• Set aside for about 5 minutes to let it cool down slightly and tip it into a blender.
• Blitz the mixture into a smooth puree and strain through a fine mesh sieve, into a large bowl.
• Press the residues in the sieve to extract as much liquid as possible and throw away the solids.
• Adjust the seasonings and pour the strained soup back into the pan.
• Warm it up over moderately low heat until it gives out bubbles around the edges and ladle it into soup bowls.
• Add a dollop of sour cream on top of each serving and serve hot.

Image credit: Wikimedia Commons