Tomato Soup

a very easy Tomato Soup
3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 - 2 cloves garlic, chopped (chop ~10 minutes prior to sautéing)
1 medium carrot, chopped into small pieces
1 stalk celery with leaves, chopped into small pieces
3 - 4 cups chopped tomatoes (~1-1/2 pounds) - I put all the skins and the seeds in the soup)
1 tbsp. white flour
3 cups water
1 - 2 tbsp. fresh basil (green or purple is ok)
1 teaspoon salt (I use less)
1 teaspoon tomato paste if using out of season tomatoes (both regular or dried tomato paste work well)
Directions:
Heat 1 Tbsp. olive oil in big soup pot. Add onion, garlic, carrots and celery an sauté for ~5 minutes until onion is transparent.

Add tomatoes and simmer for 10 minutes, mashing occaisionally with a wooden spoon until soft and pulpy. Sprinkle flour over tomatoes and stir smooth.

Add water and seasonings, bring to a boil, and then turn heat down to simmer uncovered for 20 minutes if soup is to be pureed or 30 minutes if not. (this cooking time is important for both flavor development and also to increase the amount of the cancer-protective phytonutrient called lycopene that is released from the tomatoes.)

To puree or not is a personal choice. I puree about half of the soup in my blender to thicken it up a bit. Reheat (do not boil again) before serving, adding the last tablespoon of olive oil right before serving.
Enjoy

Tomato soup

Fresh Tomato Soup

This soup is extra-delicious when made during July to September, when our sweet, deep red tomatoes are abundant. Confronted with such a taste sensation, no one can fail to appreciate that the virtues of eating locally and seasonally go far beyond the realm of economics–and enter a domain where ecology and gastronomy coincide.

The addition of sun-ripened tomatoes adds a hint of Mediterranean sunshine, and is especially important when you are resorting to using tomatoes of the more jet-lagged variety. We often serve up this soup with tomato focaccia or olive bread and brie.
To serve 6-8
2-3 onions chopped
1 medium carrot, rough chopped
1 smallish potato, rough chopped
1 1/2 lb. tomatoes, quartered
2-3 bay leaves
1/2 oz. sun-dried tomatoes
2 sticks celery, chopped
1-2 tsp. vegetable stock powder
1-2 cloves garlic
1 Tablespoon of Olive oil
2 tbs. freshly chopped basil or 1-2 tsp. dried basil
10 oz. milk (optional) and/or 4-5 oz. cream
1. Saute onion, garlic, carrot and celery in a little olive oil for about 5 minutes until it gets soft. If using dried basil, add it now. Then add potato and saute a little more. As soon as the potatoes begin to stick it is time to add the tomatoes, bay leaves an sun-dried tomatoes. Also add enough water/stock to just cover tomatoes. Simmer for half an hour, or until all vegetables are tender.
2. Fish out the bay leaves. Blend. Add more water and enough cream or milk to give desired consistency. Season to taste. Do not boil once cream is added. (This soup is also very good without milk or cream–just add more water/stock.)2a. Drizzle olive oil at the end, like traditional italien way, mixing till it disappears 3. If fresh basil is available, roughly chop. Stir some into the soup and use the rest as a garnish.

Open tin of tomato soup. Put in pot. Add same amount of milk. Heat. Eat.

That's my method :)

Recipe sounds great Petals.

What you can also add, is some roast red pepper (capsicum), skinned and pureed. Nice splodge of greek yoghurt on top, some garlic croutons to garnish. Sprinkling of finely snipped garlic chives.

Sorry - I'm not keen on tomato soup :D

I'd foregoe tomato soup for a bowl of minestrone anyday. I start off with good intentions, but as soon as i've browned onions, i add bacon and I always end up with minestone. I absolutely love it. I really do...Never made a tomato soup yet that didnt end up with pasta and a skin of parmesan

Any soup is good ......

The trick to not having too much acid in a tomato soup is a touch of sugar.

Just finshed making Cuban Bread, I am on a roll......second batch in 2 days. I refuse to pay 4 dollars a loaf. I am making it.
I have it down to a science know. It takes all of 5 minutes now and I have 2 loaves. The most simplest ones is Cuban Bread. It won awards at the James Beard School.
It is sooooooo easy.

Does anyone have a good soup recipe ?

Yep, I'm with you, Bughut.... cannae whack it (minestrone!):lol:

Hey Petal, Could you please share your Cuban bread recipe? I've no idea what its like, but you sound so enthusiastic i've just got to try it...Plus its quick... I like quick :D

Heres my recipe for carrot and coriander (cilantro) soup Quick n easy too

Saute 1 onion with 2 cloves garlic
Add 2pts chicken stock (or veg, but i prefer chicken)
Add 1 cup fresh orange juice
Add 1lb rough chopped carrots (Organic really is best for flavour n you dont need to peel)
8oz chopped swede. I think in US they're called ruterbagers prob spelt that wrong
Throw in a few coriander stalks
Season. PLENTY of pepper
Simmer till veg is cooked
Add a small handfull of coriander leaves and Blitz

We eat it with dry, toasted wholemeal bread :lips:

Great as is for the health concious, or add cream

Sure.....

I do not like to get a fnacy with bread.....

1 package of yeast ,
2 cups of warm water
1 1/4 salt
1 Tablespoon salt
6-7 cups of flour.

1. Dissolve all the first 4 ingredients then start tossing in your flour one cup at a time. Last cup will get harder to mix in but be diligent. It will make a fairly still dough.
2. Place it in a buttered bowl ,cover with a damp cloth then let it rise for 2 hours. Punch it down and let it rise another 2.
Cut in half, place in two greased pans. Oven 450 for 10 minutes then bring heat down to 350 for 1/2 hour. Make sure you keep a small bowl of water in the oven, this makes for crusty outside.
Tak out of oven.....get ready with a knife and a block of salted butter......:crazy: prepare to be swept away ...I am getting ready to throw mine in the oven. All done before lunch.
As my grandfather would say "EAT YOUR HEART OUT" !

Bughut,

By the way that bread recipe won the James Beard Award !!!!

ps. Thanks for the soup recipe, I will give that a whirl this weekend. I see you are from the UK? Have you heard of Paolo Nutini ?
I am nuts about the boy !

You lost me there

PetalsandCoco

I've seen Nutini live quite a few times. His version of 'Caledonia' is one of my favourites.

ay, he's quite a looker too eh? I dont follow his music, just what gets in the charts. Cant remember anything but new shoes off hand. He sang it live on tv one night with a broad west coast accent and i only realised then he was a Scot. My Son tells me his folk have a chip shop in Paisley, about 60 miles west of here (Dundee)

So Sorry Jim and whoever caught that type o...


It was 1 1/4 salt and 1 tablespoon of sugar.
Jumping Jiminy crickets !!!!!



I
;)

Oh ...Nothing like a confession eh ?! hahaha

Well, in the end , you came out on top, your going to be making two dishes anyway !

Don't you just love tomatoes this time of year. I love taking italien tomatoes , cutting them in halves, putting them on a tray, drizzling olive oil, salt pepper and sprinkle of sugar , finely cut basil and roasting them for 1/2 an hour on a 350 oven. I eat that with crusty bread, pecorino shavings and a glass of wine.........ummmmmmmmm.
Nothing like sheep's goat milk turned into a tasty cheese.

I swear , I am eating so much homemade bread lately, I am starting to look like a baguette.

That sounds wonderful - perhaps with this as the background music?

YouTube - Paolo Nutini - Caledonia

Habenaro hot sauce tastes amazing in tomato soup and some ramen noodles can stretch it out into a more filling meal.

I've just recently started listening to Paolo. A friend just got me into him. Very stunning which surprised me. His voice sounds like an older Bob Marley type which doesn't really match his handsome good looks ;)
Talented musician

Pomarola

I hope we are in time for your tomato sauce.

Try to do it our way (I am writing you from Tuscany and I run a cooking class).
First, try to get the best tomato you can. Don't look for a specific one, has to be tasty, a little mushy, red. When we buy our tomato we don't look for a specific one.
Peel the tomato as much as you can. Chop them in large chops.
In a pan, just a little olive oil and a garlig slice or two. Let the oil tan the garlic, this not more than 5 minutes. Than add tomato and let it cook briefly 10 to 15 min.
If you have a potato press, squeese the sauce so that the remaining skin is silted.
Add fresh basil leaf to it (basil should never be cooked).
That's it. No parmesan cheese, nothing else, if your olive oil taste good add a drop over it.
No sugar.

This is pomarola. All what counts is the tomato.

Ciao Tina e Manuela.
My tuscan relatives have a different take on "pummarola" (which, hey, isn;t it Napolitano dialect?)- which is also very good, and based on good tomatoes.
Chop up very roughly in chunks: good tomatoes, a stalk of celery, a carrot, an onion and a garlic clove or two. Cook it until the carrots, etc. are soft.
Then put through a food mill (or use an immersion blender)
A bit of butter "a freddo" - added at the end. (Oil is used too, but i do like the butter)
In this case, parmigiano.
Don;t even think of making this except in summer when local tasty tomatoes are available.

Pomarola

Yes I believe Pomarola comes from neapolitan Pummarola, at least they made the name famous with "a pummarola n' coppa".
There are many ways to do it.
You can do same as yours, but doing a "soffritto" of celery onions before adding tomato.
Relating to butter a freddo. We have seen this a lot. Manuela's mother used to put a little butter on it.
Parmigiano, yes it helps the general taste and texture, but if you have a super tomato sauce where the tomatoes are fresh, maybe organic, better to leave the parmigiano out as it would cover a little the freshness of the fruit (because it's a fruit)

soup!

I am sorry...we went on a tangent, we live in Italy so we absorbed a little of Italian temperement (and perhaps our English is not so good) .... but we are US citizens living abroad.
Maybe we should open a thread "tomato sauce, tips from Italy"
Sorry again....

tomato soup

the closest we have is pappa al pomodoro, bread tomato soup.
Siduri posted it and we have just a little difference (basil before basil after).

Well, when i do it with a soffritto, then it's no different from my regular sauce, a whole other thing from pummarola. I was surprised and amazed when i tried the sauce without the soffritto, just all the ingredients boiled together, the flavor is different, fresher, and perfect for summer. I didn;t imagine it could be good without soffritto, but the unfried version really highlights the tomatoes and tastes of summer.

Good and Quick.....
Make your favorite tomato sauce recipe then combine it with a chicken stock based veloute, and cut it with a bit of 1/2 &1/2. YUM YUM