How to make classic tomato soup

Fruit or vegetable? Who cares, when tomatoes are jam-packed with health-giving nutrients! Eat just one large tomato and you get over half of your daily vitamin C needs, potassium to aid the control of high blood pressure, a rich supply of carotenes and lycopene, which may help to reduce the risk of cancer. Here's a recipe that is packed full of tomato goodness.

Preparation 35 minutes

Cooking 30 minutes

Serves 4

• 1 kg (2 lb) firm ripe tomatoes
• 15 ml (1 tbsp) olive oil
• 1 finely chopped onion
• 1 large chopped clove garlic
• 5 g (1 tsp) paprika
• 15 g (2 tbsp) tomato paste
• 10 g (2 tsp) superfine sugar
• 1 bay leaf
• 500 ml (2 1/2 c) hot vegetable stock
• 120 millilitres (1/2 c) low-fat (1%) milk
• 20 g (4 tsp) snipped fresh chives

1. Peel and chop ripe tomatoes. The best way to do this is to remove any stems, make a cross with a sharp knife on the bottom end and blanch (submerge the tomatoes in boiling water) for one to two minutes, or until the skins start to split. Drain and peel off the skins.

2. Heat olive oil over medium heat and add finely chopped onion. Sauté the onions for three minutes, or until just softened. Add chopped clove garlic and paprika and continue to stir-fry for one minute. Stir in tomato paste, then cook for another two minutes. Add the chopped tomatoes, without their juice if too watery, sugar, bay leaf, hot vegetable stock and low-fat (1%) milk. Bring the soup to a simmer and cook, uncovered, for 20 minutes.

3. Remove the bay leaf, allow the soup to cool a little, then purée in a blender (or in the pan using a stick blender) until smooth. Reheat, season to taste and ladle into four bowls. Sprinkle each serving with five grams (one teaspoon) snipped fresh chives.

Classic tomato soup is often made with cream instead of milk, but the low-fat milk still gives a creamy texture to the finished soup and is lower in fat. Drizzle five to 10 grams (one to two teaspoons) of heavy cream into each bowl for a touch of indulgence.

Nutritional information: 145 calories • 7 g fat • 2 g saturated fat • 16 g carbohydrates • 4 g protein• 3 g fibre