Chunky tomato soup with attitude

Autumn is almost upon us and as the last days of Summer try to cling on it is time to gather any produce you may have grown and put it to best use.

After glorious weather we have a lot of plump ripe tomatoes and some celery still growing, but indoors. The nights are drawing in and some days are much cooler so moving our celery indoors was a must.

This recipe for a chunky tomato soup is quick easy and flexible.

It will make use of your home grown produce when it is fresh and the attitude comes from what seasoning, herbs or spices you may choose to add.

You can add, take away or edit as long as the core ingredient of tasty tomatoes remains.

I used -

3 basic white onions, sliced
A mixture of ripe cherry and plum tomatoes grabbed from our small garden
Vegetable stock
A stick of young celery, leaves included
Chopped basil, homegrown
A splash of milk
A couple of spoonfuls of olive oil
Seasoning to your taste, mine was some garlic salt
A splash of soy sauce
Spoonful of flour

Put the oil in a pan over a low heat.
Peel then chop or slice the onions roughly and add to the warm oil.
Add a spoon of flour to the mixture stirring well.
As the onions simmer for around 10 - 15 minutes wash and chop the tomatoes into chunks. I left a couple of small cherry tomatoes whole.
Add the chunky tomatoes to the pan.
Wash the celery, cut and add to the pan. As my celery was a young slender stalk I cut it with large scissors straight into the pan and included the leaves.
Add vegetable stock and a splash of milk.
Simmer for between 10 and 20 minutes.
Check the taste adding more seasoning if needed.
If too acidic for your taste you can add a little sugar.

Serve topped with grated cheese.

Add a chunky slice of bread or toast for a more substantial meal.

BUT be aware it is quite a filling soup simply served on its own.