Try this aromatic and healthy tomato soup recipe. Lavender and sage give it an unforgettable flavor. Vegan and easy to make!
Do you know that you can use flowers for cooking? Well, not all of them. Some are even poisonous. But there is a flower, which is safe and tastes great. You can use it as a spice for meat together with sage, rosemary and thyme, or add it in soups for a special aroma. Salads seasoned with this flower taste flavorful and rich. Lemonade, jam, tea win a lot from it. Deserts garnished with it look and taste amazing. As you can see, it’s a real star. It tastes great, it smells wonderful and it looks very nice. It completely transforms the taste of the simplest food by adding just a pinch, making the food taste interesting and new. It’s a flower not only for your garden or balcony, but also for your table. 
You guessed right, it is lavender, a widely used spice in French, Spanish and Italian cuisines. If you’ve never tried using it as a spice, you should. Below is the recipe to start with – tomato soup with lavender and sage. 
Doesn’t it look amazing? I really like the color, so shiny and intense! The soup tastes like it looks – rich, dense, strong, sweetish and flavorful. It’s very easy to make, it’s seasonal, and it’s made from simple ingredients. It’s also light and healthy, as well as vegan and naturally gluten-free! 
When using lavender for cooking, make sure you don’t use lavender from aroma sashes or potpourris, as it might contain chemicals. You can purchase the culinary lavender in herb or spice shops, as well as in grocery stores. I keep lavender bush in a pot on my balcony and it blossoms all summer long. I also dry it and keep it for cooking or cosmetics. For culinary purposes you don’t need much – the most important thing is not to add too much of lavender in your dish. And one more thing, for this recipe you will need a bit of Harissa paste. You can easy make it but yourself – here is the recipe. The rest is really easy! See the recipe below and please let me know if you like it.
How to Make Tomato Soup with Lavender
Tomato Soup with Lavender
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium sized onion
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 bunch lavender (with leaves)
- 3 tablespoon bunches fresh sage or 1dried sage
- 2 teaspoon Harissa paste
- 150 ml vegetable stock
- 3 big tomatoes, chopped
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- salt
- pepper
Instructions
- In a pot, heat the olive oil and add chopped onion and garlic in it.
- Separate the lavender leaves, chop them and then add them to the pot together with one half of lavender flowers.
- Add chopped sage leaves or dried sage to the pot.
- Add one teaspoon of Harissa paste, tomatoes and vegetable stock.
- Add sugar, a pinch of salt and pepper, cover with the lid, and let boil for about 15 min.
- Add the rest of Harissa paste, lavender flowers, and season to taste.
- Enjoy!
Have you tried any other dishes with lavender? I would love to know about your cooking experience!
Best, Elena
Jennifer
Thursday 14th of March 2019
Could you estimate the amount of dried lavender one would add? Excited to see recipes using lavender!
Elena Szeliga
Thursday 14th of March 2019
Hi Jennifer, it's a great question actually! This recipe is one of the first on my blog and it surely needs updating :) I would start with 1 tablespoon and add more if it doesn't feel like enough. Just FYI, the soup is blended in the end (not written in the recipe). Cheers!