FOOD THAT MAKES GIRLS HAPPY

THE RECIPE: Tomato, garlic and basil soup.

  1. Peel enough tomatoes to line the bottom of your baking tray (sometimes I do this, sometimes not. It depends if I can be bothered).
  2. Quarter them and place them in the tray.
  3. Peel the skin off 3/4 cloves of garlic and place them in the tray.
  4. Grab a good handful of fresh basil and chop. Then add it to the mix.
  5. Chop a small red chilli and throw that in too.
  6. Add a couple of grinds of salt and 10 to 15 grinds of pepper (I’m anal, so always go with 13)
  7. Then glug a load of olive oil over the top.
  8. Time to get your hands dirty and mix it all together so everything’s covered in the oil.
  9. Place in the pre-heated oven (between 130-160°c) for about 1hr 30 mins. Or until it looks like the picture.
  10. While that’s cooking, chop half a white onion and soften in a pan with some olive oil.
  11. Add another clove of crushed garlic (yeah, we’re massive garlic lovers in our house)
  12. Add a tbsp of tomato puree.
  13. And if you want to, some chopped celery. Although I find that this leaves the soup a bit stringy, so nowadays I tend to leave it out. Whatever rocks your boat though, right?
  14. Take it off the heat once it’s all soft and lovely.
  15. When everything’s cool, it’s time to put everything in the blender. Add a sprinkling of sugar (to help even the acidity of the tomatoes) and a good splash of vegetable or chicken stock. Then whisk it all up until it’s smooth and lovely.
  16. Pot it up and it lasts in the fridge for about 4 days. Oh, and tastes yummy.

Food is a massive love in our lives (B loves to cook it and I love to eat it) so I think I might make recipes a part of this blog. Recipe Corner maybe. Or something else just as cheesy and 1970s sounding. Any recipes you have conquered and made your own? Send ‘em over.