Cold Weather Comfort Food Tomato Soup

COLD WEATHER COMFORT FOOD: TOMATO SOUP

Steps:

• PREP/PREPARE
• Gather your ingredients.
• Blanch, peel, and chop the tomatoes.
• Chef's Note: Blanching involves immersing the tomatoes into boiling water for about 20 seconds, and then dropping them into ice water. In the case of tomatoes, it makes the removal of skins easy peasy.
• Add the olive oil and butter to a large pot over medium heat.
• Chef's Note: It should be large enough to hold all the ingredients for the soup.
• When the foaming subsides, add the diced onions, carrots, celery, red bell pepper, the garlic, and the dried spices (basil, rosemary, thyme), and stir to combine.
• Add the tomato paste.
• Stir into the veggies.
• Lower the heat to medium low, and allow the veggies to cook until they have softened, and release their moisture, about 12 to 15 minutes.
• Chef's Tip: Throw in a pinch of salt to get the process started.
• Chef's Note: Do not let the veggies overly brown.
• Add the tomatoes to the pot, and stir to combine.
• Add the chicken stock, tomato puree, and bay leaves, and then stir to combine.
• Bring the soup up to a boil, and then reduce the heat until the soup is just simmering.
• Allow the soup to simmer, with the lid off, for about 30 minutes.
• Chef's Note: During this time season the soup with salt and pepper, and maybe a pinch of cayenne.
• Chef's Tip: Seasoning the soup as you go will give the spices a chance to blend with the other ingredients. It gives all the ingredients a chance to know each other.
• Remove the bay leaves, add the lemon juice, and then use a stick blender, or add the soup, in batches, to a food processor, fitted with an S-blade and blend until smooth.
• PLATE/PRESENT
• Serve in a nice bowl with some Parmesan cheese crisps, crusty bread, or maybe a grilled cheese sandwich. Enjoy.
• Keep the faith, and keep cooking.