Smoky tomato soup with preserved lemon & green olive salsa

homemade soup pesto soup tomato

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Source

Ingredients

1 tbsp soft butter

1 tbsp olive oil

1 large onion , chopped

1 celery stick , chopped

1 large carrot , chopped

2 bay leaves

2 garlic cloves , crushed

2 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes

500ml vegetable stock

1 tbsp sweet smoked paprika

1 tsp brown sugar

2 tsp sherry vinegar

1 small garlic clove , very finely chopped

1 red chilli

1 tbsp chopped coriander leaves

125g pitted green olives , roughly chopped

4-5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp white balsamic or sherry vinegar

1 preserved lemon or 1/2 if you are using homemade ones, rind cut into slivers (discard the flesh)

1⁄2-1 tsp preserved lemon brine, from the jar

Method

Heat the butter and oil in a large saucepan on a medium heat, add the onion, celery and carrot and fry until tender, without turning golden, about 10 mins. Add the bay and garlic, and fry for a minute before adding the tomatoes and stock. Simmer for 10 mins, stirring occasionally.

Remove the bay leaves, and blend the soup in a liquidiser or with a stick blender until smooth. Season well and add the smoked paprika, sugar and vinegar to balance the soup with sweet, smokiness and a little acidity.

For the salsa, crush the garlic with a pinch of salt using a pestle and mortar. Halve and deseed the chilli and chop roughly. Add to the mortar with the coriander and olives and bash, gradually adding the oil and vinegar until you have a rough paste (it should be chunky). Mix in the preserved lemon, then stir in the brine from the jar to taste.