Tomato Soup From Fresh Ripe Tomatoes Food

WARM WEATHER COMFORT FOOD: 5-INGREDIENT FRESH TOMATO SOUP

Steps:

• Set up an ice water bath: large bowl, lots of ice, a little water
• Place a strainer or colander in sink and bring a pot of water to a boil, 4 inches deep
• Using a paring knife, remove the core from the top of each tomato and score the bottom of the skin of the tomato with an X
• When water boils, gently place tomatoes in water and let them roll around 1 full minute
• Transfer the tomatoes to the ice bath using a spider or tongs
• Cool and peel tomatoes, letting them drain a bit as you work in the strainer
• Slice and chop the tomatoes and place in a bowl
• Heat a soup pot over low heat with 2 tablespoons EVOO, 2 turns of the pan
• Add the butter, and when it melts into oil, add Vidalia onions and season with salt and pepper
• Do not let the onions brown
• Let them sweat 10 to 15 minutes and add 1 cup water to onions, raise heat to medium-high, and let the water absorb and cook the onions to absolute mush
• Add tomatoes, basil and stock and cook at medium boil 20 minutes to break down tomatoes
• Remove basil stem and puree the soup using an immersion blender or transfer to food processor or high-power blender and puree, then return to pot
• Simmer gently over lowest heat until ready to serve
• Top with a few small leaves of torn basil

FRESH TOMATO SOUP

Steps:

• In a large saucepan heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic and cook for approximately 5 minutes or until the onion is tender. Add flour and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Pour in chicken stock and bring to a light boil, stirring until thickened. Add tomatoes, thyme, and basil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Stir in additional chicken stock if desired. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.
• Transfer soup in batches to a blender or food processor. Pulse until smooth. Pour soup into a large saucepan and season with kosher salt and white pepper to taste. Keep warm on low heat until ready to serve.
• Ladle soup into bowls. Garnish with lemon zest and drizzle with olive oil.
• Provided by Chef Jim Coleman

GARDEN FRESH TOMATO SOUP

Steps:

• In a stockpot, over medium heat, combine the tomatoes, onion, cloves and chicken broth. Bring to a boil, and gently boil for about 20 minutes to blend all of the flavors. Remove from heat and run the mixture through a food mill into a large bowl, or pan. Discard any stuff left over in the food mill.
• In the now empty stockpot, melt the butter over medium heat. Stir in the flour to make a roux, cooking until the roux is a medium brown. Gradually whisk in a bit of the tomato mixture, so that no lumps form, then stir in the rest. Season with sugar and salt, and adjust to taste.

CREAM OF FRESH TOMATO SOUP

Steps:

• Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pot over medium-low heat. Add the onions and carrots and saute for about 10 minutes, until very tender. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the tomatoes, sugar, tomato paste, basil, chicken stock, salt, and pepper and stir well. Bring the soup to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer, uncovered, for 30 to 40 minutes, until the tomatoes are very tender.
• Add the cream to the soup and process it through a food mill into a bowl, discarding only the dry pulp that's left. Reheat the soup over low heat just until hot and serve with julienned basil leaves and/or croutons.

TOMATO SOUP FROM FRESH RIPE TOMATOES

Steps:

• Wash and dry the tomatoes, then chop them roughly. Try to squeeze out excess water and seeds. Peel onion, garlic and carrot. Finely slice onion and garlic cloves and grate the carrot.
• In a soup pot, heat olive oil, then add onions and lightly fry them until translucent. Add grated carrots and garlic, stir-fry for about a minute or two, until the carrots tenderize. Then, add in chopped tomatoes and a dash of balsamic vinegar, stir well and let it cook down for a few minutes, stirring regularly.
• Add vegetable stock, bay leaves and season to taste with salt & pepper. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and cook for about 15 minutes.
• When the tomatoes are cooked, remove the pot from heat, then remove the bay leaves and blend into a smooth soup with a stick blender.
• Roughly chop basil leaves and add to the soup for taste and garnish, add a teaspoon of cream and serve.

TOMATO SOUP

Steps:

• Firstly, prepare your vegetables. You need 1-1.25kg/2lb 4oz-2lb 12oz ripe tomatoes. If the tomatoes are on their vines, pull them off. The green stalky bits should come off at the same time, but if they don't, just pull or twist them off afterwards. Throw the vines and green bits away and wash the tomatoes. Now cut each tomato into quarters and slice off any hard cores (they don't soften during cooking and you'd get hard bits in the soup at the end). Peel 1 medium onion and 1 small carrot and chop them into small pieces. Chop 1 celery stick roughly the same size.
• Spoon 2 tbsp olive oil into a large heavy-based pan and heat it over a low heat. Hold your hand over the pan until you can feel the heat rising from the oil, then tip in the onion, carrot and celery and mix them together with a wooden spoon. Still with the heat low, cook the vegetables until they're soft and faintly coloured. This should take about 10 minutes and you should stir them two or three times so they cook evenly and don't stick to the bottom of the pan.
• Holding the tube over the pan, squirt in about 2 tsp of tomato purée, then stir it around so it turns the vegetables red. Shoot the tomatoes in off the chopping board, sprinkle in a good pinch of sugar and grind in a little black pepper. Tear 2 bay leaves into a few pieces and throw them into the pan. Stir to mix everything together, put the lid on the pan and let the tomatoes stew over a low heat for 10 minutes until they shrink down in the pan and their juices flow nicely. From time to time, give the pan a good shake - this will keep everything well mixed.
• Slowly pour in the 1.2 litres/ 2 pints of hot stock (made with boiling water and 4 rounded tsp bouillon powder or 2 stock cubes), stirring at the same time to mix it with the vegetables. Turn up the heat as high as it will go and wait until everything is bubbling, then turn the heat down to low again and put the lid back on the pan. Cook gently for 25 minutes, stirring a couple of times. At the end of cooking the tomatoes will have broken down and be very slushy looking.
• Remove the pan from the heat, take the lid off and stand back for a few seconds or so while the steam escapes, then fish out the pieces of bay leaf and throw them away. Ladle the soup into your blender until it's about three-quarters full, fit the lid on tightly and turn the machine on full. Blitz until the soup's smooth (stop the machine and lift the lid to check after about 30 seconds), then pour the puréed soup into a large bowl. Repeat with the soup that's left in the pan. (The soup may now be frozen for up to 3 months. Defrost before reheating.)
• Pour the puréed soup back into the pan and reheat it over a medium heat for a few minutes, stirring occasionally until you can see bubbles breaking gently on the surface. Taste a spoonful and add a pinch or two of salt if you think the soup needs it, plus more pepper and sugar if you like. If the colour's not a deep enough red for you, plop in another teaspoon of tomato purée and stir until it dissolves. Ladle into bowls and serve. Or sieve and serve chilled with some cream swirled in. For other serving suggestions, see opposite.

FRESH TOMATO BASIL SOUP

Steps:

• In a large pot of boiling water, blanch the ripe tomatoes for 10 seconds.
• Transfer to colander; cool slightly and peel off skin.
• Cut tomatoes in half; remove seeds and chop.
• In a medium saucepan, cook the onion in olive oil over medium heat, stirring frequently, until golden brown, about 4 minutes.
• Add the garlic and cook 1 minute longer.
• Add the chopped tomatoes and cook uncovered over medium heat for 20 minutes (If using canned tomatoes, decrease cooking time to 10 minutes).
• Spoon 3/4 of mixture into food processor or blender container; puree until smooth.
• Return to saucepan, and add red pepper, basil and milk to the soup.
• Heat until hot but do not boil.
• Season to taste with salt and pepper.
• Divide the soup into two warm bowls and serve immediately.
• Garnish with fresh basil leaves, if desired.
• As stated use only the soy milk for the Vegan version.