Delicate fresh tomato soup

Tomato soup (or tomato as It used to be) is a foreign soup gone native, and is now one of the most loved of Irish soups. The homemade version, a shade less pillarbox red than its useful linned counterpart is the most delicate and fresh-tasting of dishes.

Pour boiling water over the tomatoes and remove them after 30 seconds when the skins peel off easily. Cut them in half and squeeze out the pips which are discarded — take care not to discard too much of the liquid.
Chop the pipless tomato pulp coarsely, and skin and chop the onions, using the firm white part.

Melt the butter in a heavy saucepan and soften the spring onions with the clove of garlic until they are tender and transparent. Add the tomato pulp and stir. Let it reduce a little and lose some of its moisture, and then add the stock and bay-leaf.

Lower the heat and simmer the soup for 15 minutes until the tomatoes have all but dissolved. Take out the bayleaf and blend the soup in the liquidizer for a few seconds, or puree it in a mouli-legumes.

Season with salt, pepper, and sugar and add a sprinkling of chopped mint/chives and a swirl of cream which will rise appetisingly to the surface.
Serve hot or cold.