Healthy living
Healthy eating
Classic Tomato Soup
Tomatoes are packed with antioxidants, particularly when processed, which makes tomato soup a wonderfully guilt-free comfort food
Serves 4
Ingredients
- 30 ml olive oil
- 900g British Classic Tomatoes, halved
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 small potato, peeled and sliced
- 300 ml water
- 5 ml sugar
Method
- Lightly oil a roasting tin. Arrange the tomatoes, cut side uppermost in the roasting tin. Add the garlic cloves. Season and drizzle over the remaining oil. Roast in the oven at 190°C (375°F/Gas mark 5) for 30 minutes.
- Boil the potato in 300ml water until tender. Do not drain the water.
- Skin the tomatoes and the garlic and put the tomato pulp and garlic into a food processor or blender with the cooked potato and potato stock and blend until smooth.
- Transfer to a saucepan. Add a little extra vegetable stock or water if the soup is too thick. Stir in the sugar.
Nutrition information
Tomatoes contain virtually no fat. They are very low in calories, typically only 10-15 kcals for a medium-sized fruit, and are packed full of vitamins A, C and E.
But it's the tomato's natural red pigment, lycopene, that has had the medical profession suggesting its role as a "miracle fruit". Evidence suggests that a high intake of lycopene (an effective antioxidant) can help reduce the risk of cancer and other serious diseases.
Some nutrients are lost when tomatoes are cooked, but it is thought the concentration of lycopene increases with cooking, especially if cooked in olive oil. Processing tomatoes into more concentrated forms such as some soups and sauces increases the lycopene concentration; it also increases as the fruit naturally ripens.
Facts about tomatoes
In the UK between 2005 and 2006, about 200 hectares of tomatoes plants produced 79,800 tonnes of juicy produce.
The English word 'tomato' comes from the Aztec word, 'tomatl'.
Tomatoes first arrived in Europe in the 16th century, although how they got here is unclear. Some say that they were brought back from Central America by Spanish conquistadors, while another legend suggests that two Jesuit priests brought them to Italy from Mexico.
The Latin name for the cultivated tomato is 'lycopersicon', or 'wolf peach'; no doubt a reflection of the long-held belief that the tomato was poisonous. This view may have been the result of Renaissance botanists who, relying on Greek and Roman texts, wrongly identified and classified the tomato.
Tomatoes were originally grown in Britain and the rest of Europe as ornamental climbers and were cultivated for their decorative leaves and fruit. The first known British tomato grower was Patrick Bellow in 1554.
Tomatoes are now the most widely grown ‘fruit’ in the world and are cultivated as far north as Iceland and as far south as the Falkland Islands. Tomato seedlings have even been grown in Space and tomato seeds, which spent six years circling the earth in a satellite, have been compared with others which had stayed at home. No significant differences were found in the growth of plants between the two lots of seed.
More on healthy eating
- Cooking up a remedy for ageing skin with tomatoes
- Understanding antioxidants
- Top 20 healthiest things to eat
- How phytochemicals fight against disease-causing inflammation
- How to grow your own tomatoes
- Q&As with our nutritionist
- The A-Z of vitamins and minerals
More healthy recipes
- May seasonal recipe: strawberry sorbet ice lollies
- April seasonal recipe: falafel and watercress pitta pockets
- Red rice and pumpkin risotto
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Useful website
Our thanks to 'I'm in season' for permission to use this recipe
Information on this site is for interest only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. You should consult your own doctor about any specific health concerns.
