Noticed I've a few jars of home canned tomatoes on hand that I'd prefer to use before the summer canning starts again. Ipso facto, time to make 1 gallon (portioned in quart and 1/2 gal.measures)of cream of tomato soup base. This time around I added basil as well as thyme. No dairy will be added until I actually heat the soup up for eating. I find that many products with dairy added don't freeze very well.I posted this on another site I frequent thus explaining any formatting weirdness.
Cream of Tomato Soup made from Leftovers
So yea many of ya know that this is a traditional bulk cooking time of year for me. The bad side to that is the fridge is left w/ lil dribs and drabs o' ingredients waiting to gain a coat o fur.
Decided to be proactive this time out and use em up.
Start up
Ingredients
a few sprigs of thyme
1 small garlic clove, minced
1/4 cup of onion, chopped
1 bay leaf
a lil swirl of olive oil
approx. 1/4 can remainder of 28 ozs of crushed tomatoes
a handful of minced leek tops
2/3 cup of chicken broth or chicken vegetable soup.
1/2-1/3 cup buttermilk, scalded
Saute the first 4 ingredients in the oil using medium heat; you want the onions to be translucent but have no additional colour:
Add the crushed tomatoes and the broth or leftover soup and simmer until it's reduced in half.
Puree w/ immersion blender or just run it through a fine bladed food mill. Using the food mill? Then discard any solids and return liquid to pot. Bring liquid back to a simmer then remove from heat.
While tomato mixture is re heating, take 1 heel of bread (whole wheat in this case), brush with olive oil or soft butter on both sides, cut into 6 strips, and cover with Parmesan or Asiago or Romano shredded or grated cheese and place in oven (or toaster oven) at 350 degrees for about 5 minutes or until cheese has melted.
Add scalded buttermilk to pot beating it in slowly. Place 2 pieces of the toasted bread sticks in soup and serve.
This yielded 3 cutesy lil cups of soup which was fine as a meal starter on a wintry day. Want more? Just start with a full can of tomatoes and scale the rest of the ingredients up. I used buttermilk because it was languishing in the fridge but am confident milk/sour cream/creme fraiche/ heavy cream would work just as well. Oh and the leek tops are optional.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sparkle Plenty View Post
Yummm...I love tomato soup. I'm think using the canned fire roasted tomatoes would be good in that. Using the heel really cut down on toasting the bread time and half the work is done! Smart.
I had a can of fire roasted tomatoes and the temptation to open a new can was strong but but I resisted;).
Bet some fresh basil would have been nice as well. Hellooooo...if I hadn't used the heel the man would have thrown it in the garbage or it would have remained until it became a penicillin project; yanno I hate waste, LOL.
Oh and the whole process, from raw food stuff to soup in the bowl, took about 30 minutes!
Under normal circumstances I only have a tube of tomato paste and cans of whole peeled and fire roasted tomatoes. Howevah only crushed were on sale and I decided "Ohhhh what the hay.....just get it". Won't make that mistake again because I've gotten used to controlling the size w/ the whole versions.
Cream of Tomato Soup made from Leftovers
So yea many of ya know that this is a traditional bulk cooking time of year for me. The bad side to that is the fridge is left w/ lil dribs and drabs o' ingredients waiting to gain a coat o fur.
Decided to be proactive this time out and use em up.
Start up
Ingredients
a few sprigs of thyme
1 small garlic clove, minced
1/4 cup of onion, chopped
1 bay leaf
a lil swirl of olive oil
approx. 1/4 can remainder of 28 ozs of crushed tomatoes
a handful of minced leek tops
2/3 cup of chicken broth or chicken vegetable soup.
1/2-1/3 cup buttermilk, scalded
Saute the first 4 ingredients in the oil using medium heat; you want the onions to be translucent but have no additional colour:
Add the crushed tomatoes and the broth or leftover soup and simmer until it's reduced in half.
Puree w/ immersion blender or just run it through a fine bladed food mill. Using the food mill? Then discard any solids and return liquid to pot. Bring liquid back to a simmer then remove from heat.
While tomato mixture is re heating, take 1 heel of bread (whole wheat in this case), brush with olive oil or soft butter on both sides, cut into 6 strips, and cover with Parmesan or Asiago or Romano shredded or grated cheese and place in oven (or toaster oven) at 350 degrees for about 5 minutes or until cheese has melted.
Add scalded buttermilk to pot beating it in slowly. Place 2 pieces of the toasted bread sticks in soup and serve.
This yielded 3 cutesy lil cups of soup which was fine as a meal starter on a wintry day. Want more? Just start with a full can of tomatoes and scale the rest of the ingredients up. I used buttermilk because it was languishing in the fridge but am confident milk/sour cream/creme fraiche/ heavy cream would work just as well. Oh and the leek tops are optional.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sparkle Plenty View Post
Yummm...I love tomato soup. I'm think using the canned fire roasted tomatoes would be good in that. Using the heel really cut down on toasting the bread time and half the work is done! Smart.
I had a can of fire roasted tomatoes and the temptation to open a new can was strong but but I resisted;).
Bet some fresh basil would have been nice as well. Hellooooo...if I hadn't used the heel the man would have thrown it in the garbage or it would have remained until it became a penicillin project; yanno I hate waste, LOL.
Oh and the whole process, from raw food stuff to soup in the bowl, took about 30 minutes!
Under normal circumstances I only have a tube of tomato paste and cans of whole peeled and fire roasted tomatoes. Howevah only crushed were on sale and I decided "Ohhhh what the hay.....just get it". Won't make that mistake again because I've gotten used to controlling the size w/ the whole versions.
2012Coleman wrote:
This has become a favorite:
Easy Butternut Squash Soup
One large Butternut squash
1 red bell pepper, roughly chopped
1 medium yellow onion, roughly chopped
3 cloves garlic, smashed and peeled
5 - 7 cups water
1 tablespoon salt
1 - 2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup heavy cream
Fresh thyme sprigs, for garnish (optional)
Instructions:
Peel the squash, cut in half, remove the seeds and cut into cubes.
Combine all of the ingredients except for the heavy cream in a large soup pot.
Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for 35 minutes.
Using a hand-held immersion blender, puree the soup until silky smooth.
Alternatively, cool the soup slightly, then puree in a blender in batches, making sure to leave the hole in the lid open to allow the steam to escape.)
Stir in the heavy cream and bring to a simmer. Taste and adjust seasoning (depending on the sweetness of the vegetables, you may need up to a tablespoon more sugar).
Ladle the soup into bowls and garnish with fresh chopped thyme or thyme sprigs, if desired.
Notes:
I start with 5 cups of water as 7 seemed to make it too thin. You can add more water when you puree if desired.
Also, one tablespoon of sugar should suffice - it does for me.
Don't skip the heavy cream!
Big veggie soup eaters on this end and this would be loved by all on my end :cool:. When I want to cut back of heavy cream usage I substitute buttermillk, yougurt, creme fraiche, sour cream or a combination of any of 'em.
Have also found that following the recipe up until the point where the dairy is added, cooling and then freezing takes up less space in my freezer. I just add the dairy product when I heat the soup up.
This has become a favorite:
Easy Butternut Squash Soup
One large Butternut squash
1 red bell pepper, roughly chopped
1 medium yellow onion, roughly chopped
3 cloves garlic, smashed and peeled
5 - 7 cups water
1 tablespoon salt
1 - 2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup heavy cream
Fresh thyme sprigs, for garnish (optional)
Instructions:
Peel the squash, cut in half, remove the seeds and cut into cubes.
Combine all of the ingredients except for the heavy cream in a large soup pot.
Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for 35 minutes.
Using a hand-held immersion blender, puree the soup until silky smooth.
Alternatively, cool the soup slightly, then puree in a blender in batches, making sure to leave the hole in the lid open to allow the steam to escape.)
Stir in the heavy cream and bring to a simmer. Taste and adjust seasoning (depending on the sweetness of the vegetables, you may need up to a tablespoon more sugar).
Ladle the soup into bowls and garnish with fresh chopped thyme or thyme sprigs, if desired.
Notes:
I start with 5 cups of water as 7 seemed to make it too thin. You can add more water when you puree if desired.
Also, one tablespoon of sugar should suffice - it does for me.
Don't skip the heavy cream!
Easy Butternut Squash Soup
One large Butternut squash
1 red bell pepper, roughly chopped
1 medium yellow onion, roughly chopped
3 cloves garlic, smashed and peeled
5 - 7 cups water
1 tablespoon salt
1 - 2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup heavy cream
Fresh thyme sprigs, for garnish (optional)
Instructions:
Peel the squash, cut in half, remove the seeds and cut into cubes.
Combine all of the ingredients except for the heavy cream in a large soup pot.
Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for 35 minutes.
Using a hand-held immersion blender, puree the soup until silky smooth.
Alternatively, cool the soup slightly, then puree in a blender in batches, making sure to leave the hole in the lid open to allow the steam to escape.)
Stir in the heavy cream and bring to a simmer. Taste and adjust seasoning (depending on the sweetness of the vegetables, you may need up to a tablespoon more sugar).
Ladle the soup into bowls and garnish with fresh chopped thyme or thyme sprigs, if desired.
Notes:
I start with 5 cups of water as 7 seemed to make it too thin. You can add more water when you puree if desired.
Also, one tablespoon of sugar should suffice - it does for me.
Don't skip the heavy cream!
Just finished making another batch of this:
Green Minestrone Soup
Since some of it is going into the freezer I wont add the pasta until we are ready to eat it. Also I add thin sliced radishes as a garnish; the hot soup cooks it fine. I found a vegetable peeler did a find job of thin slicing the carrots since I don't have a mandoline.
Here's a pic of one version I made that includes asparagus, new potatoes, broccoli and kale or escarole. Great recipe to clean out the fridge. You can also substitute broken spaghetti or small egg noodles for the tiny pasta listed in the recipe:
Green Minestrone Soup
Since some of it is going into the freezer I wont add the pasta until we are ready to eat it. Also I add thin sliced radishes as a garnish; the hot soup cooks it fine. I found a vegetable peeler did a find job of thin slicing the carrots since I don't have a mandoline.
Here's a pic of one version I made that includes asparagus, new potatoes, broccoli and kale or escarole. Great recipe to clean out the fridge. You can also substitute broken spaghetti or small egg noodles for the tiny pasta listed in the recipe:
