Paradeisersuppe mit Basilikumcreme (vegan) (vegan tomato soup with basil cream)
An Austrian-style tomato soup, tomatoes cooked down until they collapse rather than left in chunks, finished with a swirl of cashew basil cream instead of dairy. Roasting the tomatoes first rather than just simmering them concentrates their flavour in a way a straight simmer never quite matches.
Prep20 min
Cook40 min
Servings4
Christoph's vegan take on Austrian tomato soup, the tomatoes roasted rather than simmered for a deeper flavour, finished with a cashew basil cream.
Ingredients
Written for a 3 L pot
Units
Temperature
Servings
Soup
- 1 kg ripe tomatoes, halved rounded
- 150 g onion, quartered rounded
- 2 garlic cloves rounded
- 40 ml olive oil rounded
- 10 g sugar, balances the tomato's acidity rounded
- 500 ml vegetable broth rounded
- to taste fine salt rounded
- to taste freshly ground black pepper rounded
Basil cream
- 60 g cashews, soaked in hot water 1 hour, drained rounded
- 80 ml water rounded
- 20 g fresh basil rounded
- 10 ml lemon juice rounded
- to taste fine salt rounded
Dietary labels are a guide, not a guarantee. If you have an allergy, read the ingredients yourself.
Method
- Heat the oven to 200°C. Toss the tomatoes, onion and garlic with the olive oil and sugar, spread on a baking sheet, and roast 30 minutes, until collapsed and lightly caramelised at the edges.
- Meanwhile, blend the drained cashews, water, basil, lemon juice and a pinch of salt until completely smooth, at least 2 minutes in a high-powered blender. Set aside; this is the basil cream.
- Tip the roasted tomatoes, onion and garlic into a pot with the broth. Bring to a simmer for 5 minutes.
- Blend the soup completely smooth, either with a stick blender or in a stand blender, then pass through a sieve if you want a perfectly smooth result free of tomato skins and seeds.
- Season with salt and pepper. Ladle into bowls and swirl a spoonful of the basil cream over each.
Method in the Thermomix
Written for a TM5 or TM6, 2.2 litre bowl. This covers blending the basil cream and the final soup; the tomatoes still roast conventionally in the oven.
- Roast the tomatoes, onion and garlic in the oven as in the hand method.
- Rinse the bowl. Drained cashews, water, basil, lemon juice and salt into the bowl. Blend 1 min / speed 9, until completely smooth. Tip out for the basil cream.
- Rinse the bowl again. Roasted tomatoes, onion, garlic and broth into the bowl. Blend 1 min / speed 8, ramping up gradually, until smooth.
- Heat through 5 min / 90°C / speed 2 if serving hot. Season with salt and pepper, ladle out, and swirl the basil cream over.
Notes
- Roasting the tomatoes first, rather than simmering them raw, is what gives this soup its depth. The caramelisation at the edges concentrates flavour a straight simmer cannot replicate.
- Blend the cashews for the full 2 minutes, or longer if needed, since an under-blended cashew cream sits grainy and separates rather than swirling smoothly on top.
- Passing the soup through a sieve is optional but worth it for a restaurant-smooth finish; skip it for a rustic version with the tomato skins left in.
- The soup keeps for 4 days in the fridge, and the basil cream keeps separately for 3 days.
Ingredient substitutions
- Fresh tomatoes can be swapped for two 400 g tins of good-quality plum tomatoes if fresh ones are out of season, roasted the same way, though the flavour is milder.
- Cashews can be sunflower seeds, soaked the same way, for a nut-free basil cream.
- A little smoked paprika stirred into the soup is a good, non-traditional addition if you like a smokier edge.
From Christoph Mayer