The too tomatoey tomato soup.

If that sounds a bit odd then bear with me....

This time of year we're at the end of the season for most of the vegetables so I don't go daily to pick,  yesterday I went out to one of the chilli rows - we have 5 different sorts growing in different places -  and noticed that there were ripe tomatoes on the same terrace.  Only a few days ago they were small, hard and green,  but now they were small,  red and juicy.  Not a huge amount, but a good mixing-bowlful.  Some had brown marks on the skin, almost like stretch marks but inside the fruit was fine.  So I cut off any bad bit, quartered them, put them in a pan on a low heat and left them to simmer for about half an hour.  Or maybe longer as I forgot about them, luckily they didn't boil dry.  Into the liquidiser,  pushed through a sieve,  added some sauteed garlic and fresh basil, black pepper and a bit of muscovado sugar and tasted.  Wow!  Absolutely wonderful.  Back into the liquidiser to smooth out the garlic and herbs, then a sample upstairs for John to taste.

Now he's not a huge tomato fan, likes them cooked in things such as spaghetti, chilli, curry  and  as a pizza base, but can't eat them raw on salads.  However he said it's very tasty so I thought we'd have it today for lunch. 

2 large steaming bowls of fresh tomato soup, served with a mollete (see here and here for what they are...... )  but it didn't seem to be going down as well as I'd hoped.  Not nice?  Nice enough, he said but a bit too tomatoey.  'Well what do you expect from tomato soup made from fresh tomatoes, and anyway you like tomato soup'  said I.  I like, he said, tinned tomato soup because - like ketchup - it doesn't taste of tomatoes.  'And the tinned stuff is cream of tomato soup so maybe if next time we added cream it might be more like the 'real' thing.'

Does he really think there'll be a next time??  For me certainly but  he might get something else to eat.