Creamy Spiced Tomato Soup with Fontina 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
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• pinch chilli flakes
• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 x cans 400g chopped tomatoes
• 800ml vegetable stock
• 1/4 cup cream
• 2 tablespoons chopped herbs
• to serve: parmesan (opt)
• 6 thickly sliced good bread
• 1/2 cup fontina cheese

1. Preheat the oven to 180c
2. Optional step: in a small frying pan, toast the fennel seeds on a medium heat until fragrant. Set aside.
3. Heat the oil in a medium saucepan on a medium heat, add the onion, carrots and celery and cook, covered until the vegetables are soft, about 20 minutes.
4. Add the garlic, salt, chilli and fennel seeds, stir until fragrant, about 3 minutes.
5. Add the tomatoes and stock and simmer gently for 20 minutes.
6. Meanwhile toast the slices of bread, add to the baking tray and sprinkle over with the cheese, bake in the oven until the cheese is melted and bubbly. Remove and keep aside.
7. 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.
8. To serve, ladle the soup into bowls, sprinkle with chopped herbs, parmesan and serve with the toasted cheese slices. Enjoy!