If you have a moment, I would love to hear your thoughts
on what you see on this page –
just pop a note in the comments box below.
With many thanks and kindness,
Julie.
Soup
Easter – Outdoors – Family
Easter was fabulous.
Our grandson Cooper come to visit from the Tuesday prior. While he was here, and before everyone else arrived, we made Easter Bunny Pots, and my only real input was making the bunnies feet and assisting with the gluing. It was a great fun activity, where we had to go in search of everything needed for the project, including the packets of seeds and pots from the local hardware. When they were finished, he proudly put them out for photos, before hiding them to surprise everyone on Easter Sunday morning. He was such a proud little man handing them out to his family.
Bunny Pots by Cooper
Cooper’s bunny pot – bunny in head first!
Cooper, so proud of the little bunny garden pots that he made.
Roasted Tomato Soup with Sour Cream and Pesto
Looking for a simple soup to make for our Sunday evening meal, this was perfect. I used home canned/preserved Roma tomatoes from the larder, homemade chicken stock from the freezer, homegrown garlic and thyme, and pantry staples – onion, olive oil, salt, pepper and sugar. With homemade pesto and some sour cream in the fridge, I couldn’t help but gild the lily…
Roasted Tomato Soup with Sour Cream and Basil Pesto
Ingredients for roasted tomato soup
When writing up the recipe, I chose to change out the home canned/preserved tomatoes for what most have easy access to, that is store bought canned tomatoes.
Roasted Tomato Soup with Sour Cream and Pesto
Created from a few simple ingredients on hand - from the larder, the freezer and the garden.
Ingredients
- 2 x 400g cans of Roma tomatoes
- 1/2 red onion thinly sliced
- 3 cloves of garlic sliced
- sprig of thyme
- 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
- Salt, pepper and sugar to season
- 250 ml chicken stock
- Sour cream or crème fraîche to finish
- Basil pesto to finish
Instructions
-
Preheat oven to 200˚C.
-
Lightly grease a baking dish that is large enough to hold all ingredients.
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Place the tomatoes, onion, garlic and thyme into the baking dish, drizzle with olive oil and season lightly with salt, pepper and sugar.
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Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes.
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Remove from the oven, add the chicken stock, and then return back to the oven for a further 20 minutes.
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When done, remove the sprig of thyme and carefully remove the leaves from the sprig adding them to the tomato mixture (it will be hot, but once removed cools quickly.
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Allow the tomato mixture to cool a little and then carefully pour it into a blender and process until smooth and creamy.
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Check seasoning, adjusting if necessary.
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Serve hot in individual bowls with a dollop each of sour cream and basil pesto.
Notes
If you do not have sour cream and/or basil pesto, a simple drizzle of extra virgin olive oil would also be the perfect finish for this delicious soup.
Until next time…
Bon appétit!
Links:
Tom Yam Goong (Spicy Prawn & Lemongrass Soup)
Spicy, fresh, tangy – delicious!
Tom Yam Goong (Spicy Prawn & Lemongrass Soup)
"Tom Yam Goong should be spicy, fresh and tangy - how tangy depends on how you like it - how much lime juice you use..."
Category:
Soup, Starter
Style:
Asian, Gluten Free, Thai
Keyword:
Lemongrass, Prawn Soup, Prawns
Quantity: 2
Ingredients
- 500 ml chicken stock
- 20 g shallots, peeled & sliced
- 20 g galangal, chopped
- 20 g lemongrass, bashed
- 20 g small hot chilies, whole
- 4 kaffir lime leaves
- Fresh lime juice
- 1 tsp fish sauce
- 1 tsp palm sugar
- 6 green prawns - tiger if you can get them
- 20 g straw mushrooms, cut into halves
- 1 spring onion - green part only, finely shredded on the angle
- 6 snow peas,cut into julienne cut into julienne
- To garnish
- 2 Kaffir lime leaves, cut into fine chifonade
- Fresh coriander leaves
Instructions
-
Peel & devein the prawns. Set aside
-
Gently sautee the galangal, shallots, lemongrass & chillies to release their flavours.
-
Cover with chicken stock and add the kaffir lime leaves. Simmer gently for 2 minutes.
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Season with the fish sauce and palm sugar and adjust the flavour with the lime juice.
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Strain the broth, discard the solids and return the broth to a clean saucepan.
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Bring the broth to a simmer, add the prawns and straw mushrooms and simmer gently for two minutes.
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Divide the snow peas and spring onion between two serving bowls, top with the the prawns and straw mushrooms and pour over the broth.
-
Divide evenly between two serving bowls
-
Sprinkle the kaffir chiffonade and coriander leaves to garnish.
-
Serve hot.
Notes
- You may substitute diced chicken for the prawns. The dish is then called Tom Yam Gai. I
- believe that fresh fish would also work wonderfully .
- Adapted from’Thai Country Cooking from Laguna Beach Resort’ (2002) p57.
I like to add some fresh seasonal vegetables when I can.
If you have a moment, I would love to hear your thoughts on what you see on
this page – just pop a note in the comments box below.
With many thanks and kindness,
Julie.
