Friday, September 25, 2009

Cherry Tomato Soup


B. and I have been eating bowls and bowls of cherry tomato salad, but are inundated with many more of the tiny love apples than we can consume fresh.

So I was quite pleased to read that another blogger had made soup from hers. Well, of course! I make soup from everything, so I don't know why I hadn't thought of that myself.







I got right to work and sautéed one onion and several large cloves of garlic in about 1/4 cup of olive oil.
















Then I added to the 6-quart pot this many tomatoes...hmm...would that be about 4 quarts? I cut the long, larger tomatoes in two. Chopped up a few sprigs of basil, added about a teaspoon of salt and a few grindings of black pepper.

Cooked it all very slowly with the lid on, and after 20 minutes my soup looked like this.


I thought it would be nice if it were mostly creamy, with a few chunks, so I transferred about two cupfuls to a bowl, and then puréed the rest in the blender and added it to the bowl as well.


My batch made nearly 3 quarts, I think. My original plan was that it would be a soup base, but I tasted it, and it is perfect the way it is! Very sweet and lots of tomato flavor. Still, I'm not promising I won't add a little "good cream," as M.F.K. Fisher would probably recommend. I'm putting it in the freezer for more wintry days.

As soon as I finished this easy project, I saw that yet another blogger was showing how to make slow-roasted cherry tomatoes. Now I know just what to do with tomorrow's pickings.

8 comments:

Martha said...

Looks absolutely scrumptious!!! We have lots of larger tomatoes, suppose I could do the same, eh?

Pom Pom said...

I just might have to show up at your front door this winter. We'll break out that delicious soup!

Left-Handed Housewife said...

The soup looks lovely. You mention MFK Fisher, and I noticed you have a book or two of hers on your reading list. Have you read her letters? Wonderful!

frances

GretchenJoanna said...

Frances, I checked MFK's letters out of the library at a time when I was too busy to read them. Then I bought a copy for my friend who first urged me to read her books. Some day I will read those letters myself! I love collections of letters. Did you read Letters of a Woman Homesteader?

Marfa, I used to make tomato soup from the larger tomatoes. I don't remember it being this sweet. And I wonder if the skins add some flavor? I always left those out before.

Willow said...

I have Sun Gold cherry tomatoes in my garden this year and they are the sweetest tomatoes I've ever tasted! I do think the cherry tomatoes are sweeter.

I like to make and freeze tomato sauce. I use it as a minor ingredient in my minestrone soup as well as other recipes.

MKM said...

Mollymae read your entire "food and cooking" label last night, and just kept saying "wow..wow.. your mom is amazing!" and then she got inspired and made bread without yeast, and hollandaise sauce without lemon... resulting in a great breakfast today.

Anita said...

Hi, I must say I was so surprised to see your comment to me on Rimas site. Thanks for the heads up. I reset my comments to pop-up. Sometimes it works and sometimes not. HMMM I have tried at least 10 times to leave a comment for you! I am finding several blogs today that I cannot get the comment thingy to open. I think perhaps the problem might be with blogger? Or maybe it's just me. When I checked with blogger HELP several people had posted comments about this issue. anyway...I just brought in the last of my cherry tomatoes and am going to make your soup! Sounds so good. I have been blessed abundantly this year with tomatoes and have been able to bless others and store plenty for my family. I look forward to getting to know you through your blog posts...I can see we have many things in common. If you don't hear from me it will be because I haven't figured out my comment problem.

Anita said...

I was so inspired by the simlicity of your soup that I made a pot with the rest of my yellow pear tomatoes. I added some fresh ginger and it tasted too gingery + I got carried away with the fresh basil so I added a couple of teaspoons of curry. Then I cooled my bowl down with a splash of soy Silk creamer. Delicious! Thanks for the great instructions and beautiful motivating pictures.