Description
This easy chilled soup is the perfect way to use up bruised or slightly under-ripe peaches during the height of summer.
Ingredients
Scale
- About 3 Large Peaches of Ripe Peach Flesh
- 4 Very Large Tomatoes, quartered
- 1 Small Garlic Clove, minced
- 1 Small Shallot, finely chopped
- Splash Olive Oil
- 1 Bunch Fresh Thyme, tied with a bit of string
- 1 tsp Sea Salt
- 2 tsp Sugar
- 80ml Double Cream
- Pinch Cayenne Pepper
Instructions
- Gently cook the garlic and the shallot in a little oil in a large saucepan over a low to medium heat until they are soft and translucent, but not browned as if you were frying them. This is called sweating.
- Add the salt, thyme, peaches and tomatoes to the pan.
- Simmer for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally until the tomatoes and peaches have broken down into a soup like mixture, but there are still a few chunks in it.
- Remove from the heat and remove the bunch of thyme. Blend until smooth in a blender, or how I like to do it for small amounts like this using a hand held blender.
- Sieve gently into a clean saucepan to remove any lumps, tomato skins and peach skins and fibers and return to a simmer at a low heat.
- Stir in the sugar, cayenne pepper and the double cream. Taste, and add more sugar if it tastes a little tart (this might be the case if the tomatoes or peaches were not totally ripe), cayenne if you want a bit more of a kick or cream if you want it silkier or creamier.
- Remove from the heat and allow to cool to room temperature before chilling in the fridge for a couple of hours.
- Top with fresh basil and a dash of extra virgin olive oil to serve as a quick lunch or Summer starter. While this is a chilled soup, I find it still goes well with crusty bread.