Hi All! I have been enjoying the holidays far too much to stop and take photos. Last night I cooked a prime rib, Yorkshire pudding (popovers—will post these soon!), roasted Brussels sprouts, pan roasted potatoes, and the list goes on including these amazing Chocolate Mint Parfaits. They were the perfect light and airy, minty finish to a heavy meal.
This Heirloom Tomato soup is honestly the best soup I have ever eaten. I kicked your average tomato soup up a notch by adding Heirlooms to the Hothouse Tomato bunch and ended up with an addicting soup that has already got me planning my next batch of it.
Soup that you dream about all the next day, knowing it’s in your fridge and just waiting to be dunked into by a rustic grilled cheese sandwich.
Heirloom Tomato Soup for Blood Sucking Vampires!
Serves 5-6 bowls
3 tablespoons good olive oil
1 red onion, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
3 cloves minced garlic
1-2 Large Heirloom Tomatoes, chopped (not peeled)
4 medium-large vine ripened tomatoes, chopped (not peeled)
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves,
3-4 cups “no chicken” vegetarian broth or chicken broth
2 t. sea salt or to taste
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
3/4 cup half and half or whole milk
Toasted grilled cheese points for serving along side
Possible toppings: nonfat Greek yogurt, dolloped or put in a pastry bag, fitted with a small, round tip and swirled on; chopped fresh basil, grated cheddar if you are not serving with grilled cheese, grated gruyere on a crouton on top of soup.
*Add a few drops of red food coloring if you want your soup “red” for “vampire blood”.
For the Soup: Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy-bottomed stock pot over medium-low heat. Add the onions and carrots and saute for about 10 minutes until very tender. You want the onions to be carmelized. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the tomatoes, sugar, tomato paste, basil, stock, salt, and pepper and stir well. Bring the soup to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer, uncovered, for 30 to 40 minutes, until the tomatoes begin to break down and are very soft.
Add the half and half to the soup, stir and process the soup through a food mill into a bowl, discarding only the dry pulp that’s left. Or if you don’t have a food mill, roll up your sleeves for the following steps: Send it through a blender in small batches. LEAVE THE LITTLE CIRCLE IN THE TOP of your lid open or off and PLACE A CLEAN TOWEL OVER THE HOLE or you will get burned. I have an immersion blender and I just pureed the soup with that. Then push your soup through a large sieve or strainer. This took me a while, like 15 solid minutes of forcing the soup through the strainer but it was SO worth it. Really.
Reheat the soup over low heat just until hot and serve with any of the suggested toppings and a grilled cheese sandwich…cut in tooth shapes if you want it for a Halloween themed dish. Enjoy…I know you will!
Sit down, which I assume you are if you are reading this post. Take a deep breath, and tell me what’s been troubling you. Too long a list perhaps? Has your boss, spouse, kids, roommate, efriend got you down? Have your shoes and whole wardrobe, for that matter, reached their expiration date? Completely out of ideas for your next blog post?
If you have been fighting off the big, bad germs that have come your way, or if you simply want a delicious but healthy soup for tonight, make this creamy spinach soup. It has a hint of nutmeg and was started with a few nice cloves of sauteed garlic, so believe me, even though it’s easy peasy, it’s really tasty and has many layers of flavor. The ingredients list is so small it’s almost embarrassing…almost.
Is it just too dang cold to go outside wherever you are? Me too.
I won’t tell you where I am because then you would know that I am a big baby. I’ve seen the news; I know that many of you have been snowed in something terrible. It’s been horrible out there in so many places, and I think the best thing you could do for yourself at this point is make soup. Continue reading
Sit down, which I assume you are if you are reading this post. Take a deep breath, and tell me what’s been troubling you. Too long a list perhaps? Has your boss, spouse, kids, roommate, efriend got you down? Have your shoes and whole wardrobe, for that matter, reached their expiration date? Completely out of ideas for your next blog post?
