It's always best to start with a classic, tested and true.
This is my mom's tomato soup recipe, which I would say is an original, but truthfully, she got it from a cookbook that labels it as a pasta sauce. Much better as the tomato soup I grew up with! My mom would always buy a load of tomatoes at the farmer's market at the end of the season and cook huge vats of soup to freeze for the tomato-less winters...
Mom's Tomato Soupyou will need:
a soup pot that contains at least 2.5 quarts
1/2 cup each of
carrots,
onions and celery, all finely diced
2-3 Tablespoons
butter1 Tablespoon
oil (I usually use a neutral oil like canola)
1.5 teaspoons
flour (I use whole wheat)
1.5 cups
vegetable stock (I use a combination of a bouillon cube and some fake-chicken broth), heated
2 lbs or 4 cups
ripe red tomatoes, chopped (no need to peel) - you can instead use 3 cups canned tomatoes, but the fresh ones are so much better!
1/4 teaspoon
salt1/8 teaspoon
sugar2 cloves
garlic, crushed and peeled
4 springs of
parsley1/2
bay leaf1/4 teaspoon
thymeHeat the pot with butter and oil until the butter melts. Add the veggies (carrots, onions and celery) and cook for about 10 minutes, until soft but not brown.
Add the flour and blend it into the veggies. Stir for about 3 minutes over medium heat.
Turn off the heat, and add the hot vegetable stock, mixing it thoroughly into the veggies.
Back on the heat, add the chopped tomatoes, salt, sugar, garlic, parsley, bay leaf and thyme.
Simmer for 1.5 to 2 hours over low heat, skimming occasionally. Add water if the soup is too thick for your taste, or 1 to 2 Tablespoons of tomato paste if the soup is too thin.
If you prefer a smooth texture, as I do, use a hand blender once the soup has cooled a bit, or put it into your food processor.
Bon appetit mes petits agneaux!
