Tomato Soup Happiness
Today I had my favorite kind of day; a day spent cooking with a kind hearted, hard working and beautifully spirited client I can call my friend. My clients aren’t people I work for, they’re people I consider friends and those I teach and learn from through shared experiences. Julie and I spent 4 hours in the kitchen making soup, sauce, roasting vegetables, creating mini-frittatas, toasting breadcrumbs and making a list of meal permutations for the next week of eating. I came home happy in heart despite laryngitis and what’s been a pretty upsetting past few weeks in my world.
Cooking with Julie, sharing time together and getting her feedback on our day together lifted my spirits in a way that only connection and work of the heart can do. I was so inspired by our cooking I came home to prepare a chicken soup and a tomato soup of my own. And the reason we started today with a soup is because soup is a gift that keeps on giving; it’s also simple to prepare and a great starting place for building a simple grocery list and cooking. Soups and sauces can feed you on a weeknight and be popped in the freezer for future meals.
I made tomato soup because I’ve had a hankering for a bowl and I find it so satisfying on colder nights, which are to come after today’s spring NYC weather in November. I gave this soup extra flavor, which you won’t regret doing, by adding some white wine during the cooking process and then I finish it with a little half and half. No need to go whole bisque with a stick of butter and a container of heavy cream, not here. And no sugar was used because I add carrots to my tomato soup, which brings about natural sweetness in the cooking process. The base of this soup comes from canned tomatoes and chicken bullion for flavor, so fancy herbs aren’t needed, I just laid some thyme on top for photo purposes. You can serve a cup of this tomato soup with a salad or 1/2 of a sandwich for lunch or dinner. Or serve with a crostini topped with mozzarella and pesto for a side dip or eat alone and slurp up the deliciousness.
A Friday night soup for the books and made in 25 minutes flat.
Get in the kitchen!
XO
6 tablespoons of butter
1 tablespoon of garlic, minced
1 large onion, diced
4 carrots, cut into chunks
4 ribs of celery, cut into chunks
2 cans of crushed tomatoes (I like Scalfani, Tuttoroso and Red Pack)
2 tablespoons of Better Than Bullion (you can use powdered chicken bullion to replace)
3/4 c. of white wine
1/4 c. of half and half
Place butter, onions. garlic, carrots and celery in a large stockpot and saute for 10 minutes on a medium high flame
Add canned tomatoes and bullion and bring to a boil
Lower flame, add wine and cook (with the cover on) until carrots and celery are fork tender - about 10-15 minutes
Remove from heat and puree with a blender or immersion blender
Stir in half and half
Slurp to your hearts content!
This soup also freezes well!
My rule of thumb: if you’re not eating soup or sauces within 3-4 days, send it off to the freezer for future reheating and mealtime bliss - you’ll be thankful you did it