Whenever I go to a restaurant for lunch, I judge it based on how good their tomato soup is (if they server it, of course). I think that there are so many ways that you can get this soup wrong, but also so many ways to get it right.
There are recipes online that add more fat to complement the taste. I don’t care for that, because I try to make recipes as lightweight as possible (so that I can eat more). In this recipe, the bell peppers complement the tomatoes well, all while keeping the soup lightweight . There is a lunch restaurant next to my office where they serve a similar and delicious tomato bell pepper soup, but I haven’t been to the office in months and probably won’t go anytime soon (corona stuff) – so I had to make my own.
As always, when making soups, I recommend that you don’t be too strict, trust your taste buds and change it to suit your own taste. But, be careful, don’t try to hide the tomato taste. As the soup is cooking, the tomato taste may be really strong and you may be tempted to add more spices (that you like). But, once it settles for a bit (off the stove), the tomato taste will not be super strong anymore and the other spices, that you may have added, will and should only complement the taste. So, be careful when tasting the tomato soup as it is cooking and the amount of spices that you add to it, during.
Tomato Paprika Soup
Equipment
- A blender (preferably an immersion blender)
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 large onion
- 4-5 cloves of garlic
- 2 bell peppers
- 1 carrot
- 1 small sweet potato
- 2 cans of chopped tomatoes (400g each)
- 3 tsp vegetable stock powder (or 3 cups vegetable broth)
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tbsp paprika powder
- 1 tbsp chopped fresh basil (plus a bit more to serve)
Instructions
Preparing the ingredients
- Roughly chop the onions
- Peel and press the garlic (until minced) or cut it into small pieces
- Cut the bell peppers in half, remove the seeds and then roughly chop it
- Peel and cut the carrot into thin slices (not very thin, you're gonna puree the soup in the end anyway)
- Peel and cut the sweet potato in cubes
Cooking
- Heat up the oil in a soup pot. When the oil is hot enough (don't let it burn), add the onions, bell peppers and carrot. Saute them until the onion becomes translucent (4-5 minutes)
- Add the minced garlic and cook another 1-2 minutes until tender
- Add the sweet potato, tomato paste, paprika powder, chopped basil and the whole can of chopped tomatoes (including the juices). Stir and let it cook for about 3 minutes
- Add the vegetable broth and let it simmer for about 10 minutes on medium heat
- Remove the soup from the stove and use the blender to blend all of it. If using an immersion blender, blend it in the pot (just have patience and blend all of it). If using a blender or a food processor wait for the soup to get a bit colder (so that you don't break the blender), place it in the blender/processor and then blend until smooth puree.
- Serve with some basil leaves on top of it and some toasted bread on the side
Notes
- Use more or less water according to how runny you want your soup to be. I achieved the consistency that I like by using exactly 3 cups.
- I always place the lid on the pot from the beginning when making soups, so as to avoid the moisture from getting out (thus removing the need for more water)
