Fiery Tomato Vodka Soup with Chipotle, Lime and Basil

This one is for my mother, who loves both vodka and tomatoes, unfortunately whenever I end up making this for her I'll have to tone down the Chipotle as this was very spicy. I personally love the combination of vodka and spicy tomato and I added the basil to smooth out the flavour a bit.

This can be served hot or chilled, though if served chilled I'd suggest blending it to a very smooth consistency and using the lower amount of chipotle.

Yield: 4 Small bowls or 2 Meal Sized Bowls

Ingredients

Most of these are to taste really

• 4-5 Ripe Roma Tomatoes
• 1-2 Chipotles in Adobo (to your personal taste)
• Green Onion
• Minced Garlic
• 1-2 Stalks of Celery (Somehow I never got a shot of this, but it's in there, trust me)
• 4 Cipollini Onions (you could substitute shallots or a small sweet onion instead)
• 1/2 Cup of Vodka
• Juice of 2 Limes
• Fresh Basil (Optional)
• Red Pepper (Optional)

Method

• I was lucky enough to get some very tasty romas from a local greengrocer

• Start by boiling a pot of water, then dropping the romas in for about a minute or until the skin is easily peelable. Peel, then chop it roughly. If the tomato has a large core try to remove it the place the tomato and juices aside.

• If you've never seen a Cipollini onion before, this is one of the cute little bastards, they're really sweet and quite nice roasted whole. Sometimes hard to find but I really like the flavour so they're going in to the soup today. As mentioned above, swap them for a couple shallots or a small sweet onion if you like.

• Quickly sauté both onions, the celery and garlic in a medium to large pot. I'm not sure why they look so burnt in this picture, they really weren't, also I guess I hadn't added the celery yet.

• Add tomato, and red pepper if you like then let simmer.

• This is a can of Chipotles in Adobo, if you've never had them the aroma when you open the can is amazing. I added two to my soup, but I like things spicy, you may want to stick with one. Chop it roughly and toss it in the simmering soup.

• Add a handful of Basil if you're so inclined, and your lime and vodka

• Give it a stir every so often until the aroma is filling your house and you want to stick your face in the pot.

• Blend using an immersion blender or as pictured to your desired consistency. I like mine a bit chunky, but I also reblended my leftovers to have it chilled as I prefer a finer consistency for chilled soups.

• Serve and Enjoy