Tomato & Basil Soup

I’ve always struggled with growing Basil. I sow my seeds at the alloted time, nurture them through the damp, sometime sunless Spring and then plant them out in the garden. But usually some evil befalls them; being eaten by slugs, keeling over and dying through lack of light or damp, or just failing to thrive because the English summer just isn’t warm enough. This year (I’m guessing because our new garden is sheltered and a couple of degrees warmer than an exposed one) my Basil has done tolerably well – not enough of it to make Pesto, but tolerably well nevertheless. 

I love it when it gets to the just-about-to-flower stage and so I thought I would whip up a a nice summer lunchtime Tomato and Basil soup. Ideal for someone with a summer cold, like me :(

Sadly, none of my Tomatoes are ripe yet so I had to use store-bought for now. I chopped up two of my Shallots, crushed one of my garlic cloves. Chucked in a punnet full of tomatoes (I didn’t de-skin them, is that lazy?) and threw in two good handfuls of my Basil. I like to use the flowers too – just for the hell of it and because you don’t really find Basil that has flowers on it in the supermarket do you? 

One minute on blitz then simmer for 15 mins. Yum!

Category: Herbs, Recipes     Tagged:

11 Comments on “Tomato & Basil Soup”

  1. I had real trouble with basil last year. Much the same woes as you. Having spent quite a bit of money on plants I saved the seeds. This year the plants are really strong and I’m now short on tomatoes not basil. Perhaps I’ll give the recipe a whirl next year.

  2. MMM, sounds delicious. Since my tomatoes are ripe and my basil grows like crazy I’ll have to try this recipe. I also save seeds from my basil (Genovese & Lime) and have much better plants from these seeds.

  3. Sounds very tasty. I have managed quite well with the basil this year, the first lot was planted out around the tomatoes and then promptly eaten by slugs, but the second lot stayed in pots in the plastic greenhouse and is looking very healthy.

  4. Yumm! I love to warm up that type of soup, pour it over a chunk of toasted bread and top with a poached egg. Divine.

    Well – I did get some tomatoes from the market this weekend… so now I know I’m having for dinner!

  5. I grow basil in pots near the house where it’s warm, preferably raised up as it’s a magnet for slugs and snails. It loves heat and always fails if I plant it in the garden. These cool wet summers aren’t doing it any favours!

  7. My basil usually looks sick every year. This year I saw someone grow it in huge pots and it was beautiful. I decided to do the same and planted it in potting soil. It’s looking pretty good but our nights are starting to get cold. I hope it has time to mature! I snapped a picture of it and posted it. I think I’ll do this every year.

  8. You had me going for a moment there. My basil is fine (the slugs must have filled up on the broccoli & beans) but the tomatoes are all still green! Any recipes for green tomato soup?

  9. Hello,

    I am from Seattle, Washington, USA and seem to have the same challenges. I’ve had one ripe pear tomato. My basil is doing OK only because I put it in pots on our concrete patio, the hottest spot in our yard. I’m pretty excited, though, because we just built a greenhouse and I’m hoping to be able to grow more heat-loving crops like cucumbers. I also tried those upside-down planting bags and those have been working pretty well.

    Here’s hoping we all get some red tomatoes soon! And some nice basil.

    Sandy

  10. I just found your blog via the observer – good plug! I don’t have a garden or allotment myself but my sister and her partner do so they bring us all kinds of stuff; today it was potatoes, kale, courgettes, beetroot, runner beans, turnips, radishes and shallots! We are having them round for dinner later – I may blog the results as we are eating many of the above vegetables. Come to think of it, I often blog recipes and meals I have made using their product :-) Good on all you veggie growers!

  11. Pingback: EasyTomatoes.com » Blog Archive » Tips to Organize Your Kitchen on a Budget