Food is glorious, comforting and a necessary commodity. But admittedly most of us overload on the glorious and comforting factor. We indulge incessantly in the unhealthy, be it savoury or sweet. Therefore occasionally it is good in fact healthy to nourish our bodies with something less rich but still delicious.

Tomatoes might not be tuned for everyone’s palette however this particular recipe is created easing out the odd tangy flavour.  It’s surprisingly luscious, soothing to the buds and exactly what you need after a day of heavy binging.

Ingredients

4 (medium size) tomatoes
1 carrot (grated)
1 (small) onion
2 cloves of garlic
30g of parsley
3 cups of chicken stock
2 tbs of flour
2 tbs of butter
1 tsp of olive oil
4 cloves
Salt
Pepper
Oregano

Directions

Wash, clean and fine dice the onion, parsley and garlic. Wash the tomatoes, cut them in to quarters and set aside.

Pour the olive oil to a pot and place it on medium high flame.

Add the diced onion and garlic to the pot and sauté for a few minutes.

Add the grated carrot with a teaspoon of pepper and stir fry for about five minutes.

Toss the tomatoes in to the carrot sauté, add the cloves and stir for minute.

Pour the chicken stock in to the pot, lower the heat and let it boil for the next 30 minutes.

While it’s boiling, (during intervals) add a teaspoon of oregano, the chopped parsley, salt and pepper (according to personal taste) and stir.

Once the broth has been made, take it off the heat and let it cool about 20 - 30 minutes.

Fish the cloves out, pour the contents in to a food processor and blitz for 5 – 10 minutes.

Take a clean and dry pot, place it on a low flame and add the butter in to it.

As soon as the butter has melted stir in the flour to make a roux. Cook until it turns brown in colour.

Gradually whisk in little quantities of the tomato soup.

Whisk the soup until it becomes thick and lump free.

Serve while it’s hot.

Disasters, Warnings and Tips

Have this with some croutons. YUM!

I recently turned 20 something and my birthday resolution is to become healthier while maintaining my love for chocolate.

The parsley is a personal preference – it is optional of course.

 Add half a teaspoon of roasted chilli powder and enhance this soup to new a level of delicious.

The carrot reduces the natural acidity of tomatoes.

Personally, I prefer a lot of pepper in this soup.

To make the chicken stock- add a chicken cube to 3 cups of lukewarm water and stir.

By Shazzana Hamid