My resolution to make more soup slacked a little; I haven’t made soup since the egg drop soup I posted last month.
Well, I take that back; I did add some Chinese noodles to a bowl of hot chicken broth last week when my kids had a sore throat, but that’s about it. For a few seconds there I felt my own self heading toward the flu, and joined them on the couch, wrapped up in a blanket.
That down time felt good, and it worked too. I finally added Downton Abbey to my Netflix queue and got all caught up with the first season during a marathon session – something I hardly ever let myself do.
I’m not a great television person. It’s hard to sit passively for what seems to me like time wasted; I find myself thinking of lists to write, books I need to read and some random details of daily life I think I forgot to do.
Letting all that stuff go once in a while is obviously good for the soul. And how lucky for me that since I’ve missed the first 2 seasons of a show that every person I know seems to be talking about, I now have LOTS to catch up on.
Don’t tell me what happened during last week’s episode – I know there was enough drama to cause sobbing in front of the television, but I’m not there yet!
I made a batch of this creamy tomato soup and my kids and I finished it off when they came home from school. When I make it again, I will double the portions to have a little leftover for lunch the next day.
Instead of milk, I used fresh bread as a thickener; thinking of the creamy version of Campbell’s soup my mom would make for me.
Ingredients
3 tablespoons olive oil
½ large white or yellow onion, sliced
2 pounds small vine-ripened tomatoes, such as Campari, sliced in half
1 teaspoon salt, plus additional to taste
½ teaspoon sugar
1 garlic clove, thinly sliced
Freshly ground black pepper
2 or 3 thick slices peasant-style bread, crusts trimmed
3 tablespoons grated Parmigiano Reggiano or Parmesan
1 – 2 cups cup vegetable broth or water
Crostini, soft goat cheese or ricotta and chopped fresh herbs (such as parsley, thyme or basil)
Instructions
- Heat oven to 425 degrees.
- Pour the olive oil into a baking dish or pan that will hold the tomatoes snugly (I used a 14-inch cast iron skillet); scatter the onion evenly over the bottom.
- Arrange the tomatoes cut side up over the onion and sprinkle with the salt and sugar.
- Roast 20 minutes; then scatter the garlic over the tomatoes and roast for about 10 more minutes – the tomatoes and onion should be soft and golden and their juices bubbling. Season the tomatoes with the black pepper to taste and cool 10 or 15 minutes.
- Transfer the tomatoes to a blender or food processor. Tear the bread slices into small chunks and add to the tomatoes (one half at a time if blending in 2 batches) along with the cheese. Add enough broth or water to barely cover the tomatoes – it will depend on how juicy the tomatoes are after roasting.
- Puree until smooth, in batches if necessary, adding more bread and/or liquid to achieve a consistency you like. I prefer the soup with a little body rather than very brothy. Taste for seasoning. Spread the crostini with some goat cheese and sprinkle with herbs to and place one in each bowl of soup.
Oh I love that you thickened this soup with bread! Gorgeous photos!
Laura, thanks so much! I’ve been trying to get creative with the leftover bread I seem to always have in the kitchen.
Hi Erin – I hope you find another day to make more soup soon, although I’m guessing Tomato-Basil made your sis very happy!
What beautiful photos of a gorgeous soup! And what a fun thing to whip up in lieu of the Campbell’s soup. I wish I had seen this yesterday, as I made a Tomato and Basil Soup for my sister, and this might have been even more perfect. Definitely giving this a shot when I get home!
That soup sounds lovely and your photos are so beautiful! And what a cool idea to use bread as a thickener.
Your Roasted Sweet Potato soup is a regular at our house. I’m looking forward to trying this one. It looks delicious.
Hey! This soup looks great! I was wondering if you knew the nutrition facts on it? If not all, just the calories are what I really need. My husband and I just started this diet, after I had a baby 3 months ago, so we are trying to be really careful. Thank you!
Karlyn,
Hi – thanks for asking about nutrition facts; it’s a great question. I used Spark Recipes to calculate some info for you since I don’t personally have software to do that.
Here’s the link to nutrition info based on 4 servings – good luck with your diet!
http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/cookbook_calculate_popup.asp?ingredientIDs=11282,4053,11882,19335,18033,1033,11215,&amounts=28601,25011,29329,34590,32989,23735,28497,&qtys=1,3,7,1,2,1,3,&servings=4&food=
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