I love soup. You'll hear me say this a lot this fall and winter as I share my favorite soup recipes with you. Both Brian and I have been craving them, but until recently its just been too hot. But, it seems that fall weather is here and we're getting out our soup bowls again! I make this tomato soup recipe a lot to go with grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch. I can whip it up in less than 10 minutes. My kids love dipping sandwiches or sliced bread into it, as do I! Yesterday, I just made some croutons for mine and didn't even bother with the sandwich. You can use tomato juice or make your own tomato puree using this process. By using bought tomato juice (if that is available to you), your end result will be much the same as what you'd get if you opened a can of Campbell's Tomato Soup and added milk to it. That's my favorite because that's what I grew up on. Until I moved to a larger city, however, I just used tomato puree and its still good! This recipe is adapted out of the More With Less cookbook.
Cream of Tomato Soup
2 Tbs margarine or butter
3 Tbs flour
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/8 tsp garlic salt or powder
1/8 tsp black pepper
1/4+tsp dried basil (1/2 to 1 Tbs chopped fresh basil)
2 cups tomato juice (or tomato puree)
2 cups milk
Melt butter or margarine in pot. Using a whisk, blend in flour and spices (except basil). Gradually whisk in tomato juice. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil 1 minute to thicken. Stir in milk and basil. Heat almost to boiling and serve. Makes 3-4 servings. (Our family of 5 eats all of it in one meal.)
Notes: You can use a couple Tbs diced onion in place of the onion powder, but I prefer powder so it doesn't loose its creaminess and so I don't have to puree it smooth. If you live in a big Chinese city, Hui Yuan brand (the green boxes of 100% juice) carries tomato juice. Its perfect for this. In my city, only the big Carrefour carries it that I've seen. If all you have for this spice wise is the salt, sugar, and pepper, it will make a good soup. All the other things just help give it a fuller flavor--and we just love basil in tomato soup, so that's our spice of choice. Start with the smaller amount and work up according to your tastes. I don't usually measure it! You could use oregano or thyme as well.
2 Tbs margarine or butter
3 Tbs flour
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/8 tsp garlic salt or powder
1/8 tsp black pepper
1/4+tsp dried basil (1/2 to 1 Tbs chopped fresh basil)
2 cups tomato juice (or tomato puree)
2 cups milk
Melt butter or margarine in pot. Using a whisk, blend in flour and spices (except basil). Gradually whisk in tomato juice. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil 1 minute to thicken. Stir in milk and basil. Heat almost to boiling and serve. Makes 3-4 servings. (Our family of 5 eats all of it in one meal.)
Notes: You can use a couple Tbs diced onion in place of the onion powder, but I prefer powder so it doesn't loose its creaminess and so I don't have to puree it smooth. If you live in a big Chinese city, Hui Yuan brand (the green boxes of 100% juice) carries tomato juice. Its perfect for this. In my city, only the big Carrefour carries it that I've seen. If all you have for this spice wise is the salt, sugar, and pepper, it will make a good soup. All the other things just help give it a fuller flavor--and we just love basil in tomato soup, so that's our spice of choice. Start with the smaller amount and work up according to your tastes. I don't usually measure it! You could use oregano or thyme as well.
Was craving soup so I category searched and this was exactly what sounded good. Whipped it up with a pesto grilled cheese and it's keeping me warm from the inside in a snowy Prague. Only review - it's a little thicker than expected. I didn't measure just right, so maybe I put too much flour?
ReplyDeleteCan this be frozen if you don't eat it all and reheated well?
ReplyDeleteMight depend if you are using tomato juice or fresh tomatoes, Lynne. I will try it with my next batch and see--but I usually use tomato juice. If using tomato puree, it might separate a bit but I'm not sure. Usually tomato based things freeze great, but not sure what the addition of the milk might do? Anyone else know?
ReplyDeleteLynne-- I tried freezing some of this and then thawing and reheating. I had used tomato juice in the one I froze. It tasted fine when reheated, but it wasn't as smooth--the milk and tomato juice had broken up just a bit. Hope that helps.
ReplyDeleteMariama requested tomato soup for her night to cook tomorrow, Monday, night. I said I knew right where to look. Will have to use some pureed tomatoes, hope it turns out like I think it will. If so, no more canned tomatoe soup. It is expensive here.
ReplyDeleteWe love this recipe, Rich, and I have successfully made it with a puree. If its not quite going together how you want you could add a bit of tomato paste.
DeleteThis is one the recipes that I have clung to and made so many times since moving to China. It tastes even better than Campbell's and is definitely better for you. Thank you so much!
ReplyDelete