Peanut Soup - Another warming wintertime meal

I was served peanut soup for the first time by a friend, on the eve of a winter solstice past. She developed the recipe based on her memory of a peanut soup that she had eaten at a now-closed tearoom. Its origins can either be attributed to Colonial America or West Africa, depending on which Wikipedia site one chooses to read.The following is my version of this strangely delicious soup.

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon of oil
• 1 small onion, chopped 
• 3/4 to 1 cup of peanut butter, depending on your taste
• 1 large tin of tomatoes ( 796 ml)
• 1 cup of water or vegetable broth
• 1/2 to 1 tsp. of ground cumin to taste
• 1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes or a pinch of cayenne pepper
• salt and pepper to taste

Methods:
Sauté the onion in the oil in a pot on top of the stove until translucent. Add the other ingredients to the pot stirring over a medium heat until the peanut butter has melted. Use a hand-held blender to whiz the ingredients until smooth. Alternatively, pour the soup into a blender to puree. Re-heat the soup and adjust the seasoning before serving. 


Use a tin of fire-roasted tomatoes rather than plain old tinned tomatoes for additional zing. Chopped scallions would be an appropriate garnish.