Homemade Tomato Soup

I’ve been scarred from eating canned tomato soup for several years now. If you’ve ever accidentally burned it then you know where I’m coming from. Not only does the soup ruin the pan it was in, but it tastes like someone used it as an ashtray during the cooking process, rendering it inedible. In an effort to get past my phobia and also move away from consuming canned products, I ventured into making my very own homemade tomato soup. It took a little more work than just operating a can opener, but it was definitely worth it! The soup was creamy, robust, and fragrant and the best part is that it tasted nothing like the tomato cigarette soup that once haunted me! I paired mine with mozzarella and basil grilled cheese for an adult take on the classic combo. Give it a shot and I think you’ll find that once you try a homemade version, you’ll never go back to the canned stuff!

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Recipe adapted from Your Home Based Mom

(makes roughly 8 cups)

Ingredients:

6 medium sized tomatoes

2 Tbs olive oil

1 garlic clove, minced

1 small shallot, minced

½ cup fresh parsley, chopped

2 cups tomato juice

2 cups chicken broth

¼ cup fresh basil, chopped

1-2 stalks of green onion, diced

½ cup cream

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

 

(1.) Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil. Add tomatoes and boil for 1-2 minutes or until skins just begin to crack. (2.) Remove from pot with a slotted spoon and place into a large bowl of cold water. (3.) Once tomatoes have cooled slightly, remove the skin. (4.) Roughly chop the tomatoes and set aside until ready to use.

(5.) Dump water out of the pot you used and hand dry. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in the pot over medium heat. Add minced garlic and shallots and cook for 1-2 minutes. (6.) Add tomatoes, tomato juice, chicken broth, and parsley. (7.) Stir together and simmer over medium to high heat for 20 minutes. (8.) Add basil and green onion and simmer another 10 minutes.

Remove from heat and let soup cool for 5-10 minutes. If using a regular blender you may want to wait even longer for the soup to cool or else you may end up with a tomato soup explosion! The hot soup, vibration, and the steam can cause the lid to blow off, so cover the top with a towel and press down firmly while you puree the soup. Also be careful not to overfill the blender, so try blending in 2-3 batches.

(9.) I used my Cuisinart Food Processor and just had to be careful not to measure past my liquid fill line. I measured out the soup 2 cups at a time and poured the pureed soup into a bowl. I transferred the soup back into the pot once it was empty so I could add my remaining ingredients.

Once all of the soup is pureed (if you let the soup cool for a while you may want to heat back up over low heat, stirring occasionally), stir in ½ cup cream, season with salt and pepper and serve!

Enjoy!