Heirloom Tomato Soup
Oh, fancy me deciding to make a fashionable entrance?
No, but with my regular posting gone south with a bit of back problems, I’ve been away from my desk (& my kitchen). While they say it’s not a fractured spine per se, bending has been a little troublesome.
Alright I suppose with my late turning tomatoes.
My wonderful father in-law, one of the two lovely in-laws who’ve inspired this blog, also inspired my garden this year. For Christmas, I was presented with the most thorough catalog of seeds I’ve seen in some time. With not enough space to go pumpkin crazy, I opted for rewarding tomatoes. Six varieties to be precise and would you think that would stop my seed gift? No way, he even planted, sprouted and babied these specimens until they were ready to head to earth.
With a late start to the summer and this little back problem of mine, these little babies soon grew into towering providers. Eight feet of unstretchable plant has blossomed into hoards of tomatoes that now, so close to the first of fall, have finally begun to ripen; all at once.
With the more than occasional rain and cooler nights, I’ve summond my three year old farm hand, who has no trouble crouching, to help with the over abundant harvest.
The soup, I could handle. It was pretty simple and very delicious.
CREAMLESS CREAM OF TOMATO SOUP
Adapted from Cook’s Illustrated
3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1 Small Onion, diced
3 Cloves Garlic, minced, about 1 1/2 teaspoons
2 Lbs Assorted Heirloom Tomatoes, I used Black From Tula, Snow White Cherry, Roma & Riesentraube, diced (or one large 300z can)
1 Bay Leaf
1 1/2 Cups Vegetable Broth
1 teaspoon Brown Sugar
1 Slice of Bread, crusts removed, torn
3/4 teaspoon Salt, more or less, to taste
Freshly Ground Black Pepper, optional, to taste
Fresh Basil, chopped, optional for garnish
Heat the oil in a large pot.
Dice and add the onion, minced garlic and bay leaf.
Sauté over medium until the onions are soft and translucent but not browned.
Add diced tomatoes and cook for about 10 – 15 minutes or until the tomatoes have softened, released their juices and lost their skins.
Stir in the sugar, bread and broth, then bring the soup to a boil then reduce it to a simmer.
Once the bread is soft and begins to break down, remove the bay leaf.
Using a hand immersion blender, mix the soup until smooth.
In batches if necessary, pass the soup through a mesh strainer and return to a cleaned pot.
Reheat as necessary.
Add salt, and pepper if desired. Seasoning to taste.
Garnish with fresh basil.
Serves 4.
Comments
Glad to see you posting again!!
Oh my, that soup looks so comforting – perfect for the autumn temperatures!! And I love what you shared about your father-in-law – what a great man!
Oh, thank you! I can’t eat soild foods at the moment and I’ve been wanting some tomato soup.
Stunning photos! I don’t think there is anything better than fresh vegetables from the garden. Your soup looks amazing.
I love homegrown tomatoes. If you can’t eat them all, chop them or sauce them and freeze for the Winter!
You should enter this in the Grow Your Own roundup.
Wow, I’m hungry and this looks GOOOOD! I am going to make it tomorrow. Yum. Love your blog and great pictures. I swear, where did everyone learn to take pictures like this? Is there a secret door I missed?
Dana Zia
http://danazia.wordpress.com/
Gorgeous! Absolutely gorgeous! And what an awesome gift. Lucky girl
I recently discovered your site and boy am I glad that I did…I’m addicted. The first day I found it, I spent several hours looking through your delicious recipes. The next day I hurried off to Whole Foods to find some Heirloom Tomatoes so that I could try this recipe; I had been craving Cream of Tomato soup. The day I made it, we ended up having guests over and since this was the first recipe I have tried from you I was a bit nervous to be honest. No worries needed though because the soup was great! I was very impressed and more than happy to share the soup with our guests. I can’t wait to try some of your other recipes…maybe the Pumpkin Manicotti, Yum!
This tomato soup idea is so cool. I can not wait to try it as soon as time allows me. Thanks for posting this, it look’s delicious and I think it is so easy to do. Got to try it soon
I made this soup and it turned out very tasty! I found that the soup was very brown rather than red but this didnt take awaay from the appeal. If i was serving this to a crowd i might add a can of tomato paste and some cream to make it all the more glorious. For vegens i would say a soy milk option would also make this soup very sleek and smooth to impress a group. I would say the from start to finish this soup took about an hour and about half of that was watching TV while it simmered. I dont have a hand held blender so i just put it all into a blender. I kind of like not straining things because it gives it a more homeade rustic appeal for thier to be some small reminders of what went into the soup. Just some thoughts i wanted to share! Happy eating, cooking and loving.
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