Creamy Spiced Tomato Soup with Cheddar Toast

My quick creamy spiced tomato soup is so easy to make and perfect for chilly days!

A comfort soup classic with a bit of a kick.

I will let you in on a secret, my oldest daughter has a thing for supermarket tomato soups and loves the ‘burn’ it leaves at the back of her throat. I don’t have the heart to tell her its all the preservatives – so hence the little chilli kick of my own here in my version.

Because the tomatoes are the star here, I prefer the taste of Italian organic canned tomatoes,  as they tend to be sweeter. If using other canned tomatoes, you might want to add a pinch of sugar to balance their acidity.

Italian fontina cheese is a semi soft cow’s milk cheese with a lovely melting quality, which I lathered liberally on some toasted ciabatta – the perfect dunking tool!

Getting Ahead: the soup can be made 2 days ahead

Seasonal Swaps: You can use mozzarella instead of fontina and feel free to use any good sliced bread for the recipe. You can off course use fresh and ripe tomatoes

A medium saucepan, small baking tray, hand blender or food processor.

• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• pinch smoked chilli flakes (opt)
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 x cans 400g chopped tomatoes
• 800ml vegetable stock
• 1/4 cup cream
• 2 tablespoons chopped basil or parsley
• to serve: parmesan (opt)

Cheddar Toast

• 6 thickly sliced good sourdough bread
• plenty of mature cheddar cheese
• I love a bit of finely chopped spring onions on my melted cheese too!

1. Preheat the oven to 180c
2. Heat the oil in a medium saucepan on a medium heat, add the fennel seeds, onion, carrots and celery and cook, covered until the vegetables are soft, about 15 minutes.
3. Add the garlic, salt and chilli, stir until fragrant, about 3 minutes.
4. Add the tomatoes and stock and simmer gently for 10 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, toast the slices of bread, add to the baking tray and sprinkle over with the cheese (and spring onions if using), bake in the oven until the cheese is melted and bubbly. Remove and keep aside.
6. Let the soup cool slightly and blitz until smooth with a hand blender or a food processor. Add the cream and season with salt and pepper to perfection.
7. To serve, ladle the soup into bowls, sprinkle with chopped herbs, parmesan and serve with the toasted cheese slices. Enjoy!