Spilling my Soup

Right, so in the excitement of my rather monotonous life, I decided to change things up last night. I sent my lover off to the shops with a very simple list: soup, bread and cheese. Luckily his list had been smsed so he couldn't argue while driving. This is a good tip for any of you wonderful people that have cooking challenged spouses that think that they have a say in the matter. Before I waste your time with silly relationship advice, let me get to the climax of this story. Last night i made the most simple, yet delicious and relatively healthy supper ever! This magnificent meal was: Tomato soup with cheesy pesto zucchini brochette.

How this was done:

1. Turn your oven on to 200'C
2. Slice the ciabatta, and spread pesto on each slice (much like spreading butter)
3. Take a peeler and slice the zucchini (baby marrow) length ways and then season with salt and pepper.
4. Place a few slices of zucchini on the ciabatta slices. You can also add some precooked bacon bits
5. Place the slices onto a baking tray and cover with grated mozzarella bake fore 10 - 15 mins (want the cheese to go slightly brown)
6. Warm up your soup (recipe to follow)

What was needed:

• Tomato soup
• Ciabatta
• Pesto
• Mozzarella
• Zucchini

Although I got a little lazy and decided to buy my tomato soup, those that are a little more energetic and adventurous, I do have a great recipe that doesn't take too long to make.

Tomato Soup Recipe

What you will need:

• 1kg very ripe italian tomatoes, peeled
• 15ml olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• basil
• salt, pepper and sugar to taste
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 15g butter or olive oil
• 200ml chicken stock
• 250ml bechamel (white) sauce

How to do it:

1. Place tomatoes in a small roasting tray, toss in garlic, olive oil,season with salt, pepper and sugar. roast at 200'C for 15 mins, chop roughly reserving all the juices.
2. Sweat (cook on a low heat) onions in butter until soft. add tomatoes with their juices and chicken stock. simmer until tomatoes are completely soft - 10 mins
3. Add bechamel sauce and simmer for a few mins to blend flavours.
4. Liquadize in a blender, and salt, pepper and basil to taste

I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I did!