Fresh Tomato Soup

Fresh Tomato Soup

Well, I did something last weekend I haven't done in a few years, I planted a small garden. I used to always plant a garden every year. 

My little garden.

When I first moved to Lisle, by mid-July, I'd have more tomatoes than I knew what to do with. Until ... my neighbor next door moved out, along with her two cats. Once the cats were gone, the rabbit and chipmunk population exploded. They'd either eat the whole plant, or take a bite out of every tomato before it ripened. I finally gave up trying to grow a garden.

This year, however, the Great Lisle Flood of 2013 seems to have wiped out the rabbit and chipmunk population. I haven't seen any since the flood. So, I decided to give gardening a try again. I just planted a small garden. I planted two tomato plants, one hot pepper plant and a basil plant.

If by some twist of fate, I actually get to harvest tomatoes, I look forward to making this soup. It was always one of my favorites. It is fast and I love it.

When was the last time you made soup from scratch? Making soup is usually a winter time activity. As you enter the house on a cold day, the smell of soup simmering on the stove is inviting. The problem is, I also like soup in the summer. If you have a bunch of ripe tomatoes, you can have soup in no time. 

Have you ever made tomato soup from fresh tomatoes? I didn’t think so. Now, don’t give me that look. It is not too much work. Wait until you see how easy this is! Go out to the garden and fill a basket with tomatoes and bring it in to the kitchen. 

If it is wintertime as you read this, you can use some canned whole tomatoes (a good brand) and just use a little extra white wine in the blender. See how easy it is. Just do as I say and you will do fine. Now, sit down and pay attention.

Tomatoes

Basil (fresh is best, dried will work)

White wine

Olive oil

1 large onion, chopped fine

1 stalk of celery, chopped fine

½ tsp. of red pepper flakes

2 large garlic cloves, smashed and minced

Salt, pepper and Cajun seasoning

¾ cup of breadcrumbs

2 to 3 tbs. of butter

For the blender:

In a blender, place ¼ cup of white wine and five to six fresh basil leaves, (if you don’t have fresh, ¼ tsp. of dry basil will work, but don’t forget to plant basil next year). Now fill the blender up with tomatoes sliced into quarters. Blend the tomatoes into a smooth purée and pour it into a large bowl. You are going to need a total of two and a half blenders worth of purée, so you are going to repeat this one and a half times. Remember, this isn’t rocket science. You don’t have to go crazy making exact measurements. Who cares if you get a little extra wine or basil in the purée?

For the soup:

Heat a soup pot over medium heat. Add enough olive oil to cover the bottom of the pot and then add the onions, celery and red pepper flakes. Cook gently until the onions have softened. Add the garlic and stir for one minute. Add your puréed tomato mixture. Bring the soup to a boil and reduce it to a simmer. Let the soup simmer, stirring often, for twenty minutes. 

Season the soup with salt, pepper and Cajun seasoning. Taste the soup to see if you need to adjust the seasoning. Stir in the breadcrumbs and simmer gently, stirring often, for about another ten minutes. Remove the soup from the heat and stir in the butter and keep stirring until it is melted and evenly dispersed. 

Serving

Serve your soup as an appetizer with a generous sprinkling of Parmesan cheese along with some toasted bread, rubbed with garlic and drenched in extra-good olive oil. You can follow this soup with a thick, juicy steak, charred rare. How does that sound? Now add some sautéed spinach and some homemade bread still warm from the oven. You can wash it all down with a fine Zinfandel. You are on your way to a satisfying meal. Trust me, I know these things.