Slow Cooker Tomato Soup With Basil Dumplings

From tomatoes to celery, capsicum, basil and more, this one-of-a-kind fusion dish is truly vegetarian heaven featuring a bunch of delicious veggies and aromatic herbs. Prepare in advance to milk its full 9 hours in the slow cooker, for a thick and rich soup that comes with the surprise of even more flavourful dumplings.

Yield: Serves 6
Prep Time: 40 mins
Cook Time: 360 mins
Difficulty Level: 3/5

Ingredients

• 1 kg overripe Roma (egg) tomatoes, cored
• 400 g canned whole tomatoes
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled
• 2 medium brown onions (300g), quartered
• 1 fresh long red chilli, chopped coarsely
• 1 stalk celery (150 g), trimmed, chopped coarsely
• 1 cup (200 g) drained roasted red capsicum (bell pepper), chopped coarsely
• ¼ cup loosely packed fresh small basil leaves or micro basil

BASIL DUMPLINGS

• 1 cup (150 g) self-raising flour
• 60 g cold butter, chopped
• 1 egg, beaten lightly
• 2 tbsps basil pesto
• 2 tbsps milk, approximately

Steps

01. Place tomatoes, garlic, onion, chilli, celery and capsicum in a 4.5 litre (18 cups) slow cooker. Cook, covered, on low, for 7 hrs.

02. Cool soup for 10 mins. Using a stick blender, blend soup until smooth. Season to taste.

03. Make basil dumpling mixture: Place flour in a medium bowl; using your fingertips, rub in butter. Stir in egg, pesto and enough of the milk to make a soft, sticky dough.

04. Carefully drop level tablespoons of the basil dumpling mixture, about 2 cm apart, on top of soup. Cook, covered, on low, for 1 hr or until dumplings are firm to touch and cooked through.

05. Serve soup with dumplings and sprinkled with basil. Top with halve mixed baby tomatoes, if you like.

Suitable to freeze at the end of step 2.

Photo: bauersyndication.com.au