This morning I found a tray of very ripe tomatoes that someone had harvested and left for me. It felt like Christmas! The tomatoes were of several varieties and sizes. I gently gathered them, grabbed a few onions, and went right to work.
I make tomato soup without really measuring things. I start by peeling and chopping a few onions, then sautéing them in a little vegetable oil until they are golden brown. I throw in a good pinch of salt to get the onions to release their own moisture, and a hunger-inducing aroma is created. The cooking of the onions usually takes at least five minutes, sometimes as long as ten, depending on how many onions are used and how much surface area there is in the bottom of the pot. Don't rush this step. Those lovely brown bits create a lot of flavor that will give a richness to the flavor of the final soup. Rush this step and you'll either get burnt onions or a flatness in the flavor of the final soup.
While the onions are browning away, I rough chopping the tomatoes. If I were to make a guess, I use about three times as much tomatoes (by volume) as onions. So if I started with two cups of chopped onions, I'd use about six cups of chopped tomatoes. Since the tomatoes are going to be cooked , you don't need to worry about them being a uniform size. Cherry tomatoes I just split in half. Larger tomatoes I cut into two inch chunks. I use the skins, the seeds, and as much of the juice as I can.
Just before adding the tomatoes, turn up the heat and add about a cup of water to the pot. This will cause a lot of steam and a satisfying sizzle. Technically this step is called deglazing the pan. My grandmother used to call it "getting all the brown bits." Whatever you want to call it, this is another step you should not skip. It is simple, and again it adds a richness to the final flavor of the soup.
Add the tomatoes and another generous pinch of salt, give it a good stir, bring the pot to a boil. If the tomatoes aren't particularly juicy, you should add another cup or two of water. How will you know if they are juicy enough? Well, if you hear more of a sizzle than a "blurb blurb blurb" coming from the hot pot, you don't have enough liquid in there. Once your pot is making a happy bubbly sound, put the lid on and turn down the heat.
And then go clean up the mess you've made so far in the kitchen..
And maybe check your email, or the Great Kids Farm Facebook page.
Check the pot, and give those tomatoes a little stir. (It's been about 15 minutes or so.)
Then have a snack.
And check the pot again, giving those tomatoes a little stir. (It's been 15 minutes or so.)
Now go get two or three cloves of garlic, peel and chop them, then stir them into the pot.
Now go write a quick letter or email to your elected officials about whatever issue might be important to you. Or call your parents just to say hello.
The next thing I do is take an immersion blender to the whole business and buzz it until it is as smooth as one can reasonably get it. There will still be a bit of texture from the tomato skins and tomato seeds, but there will be no discernable bits of onion or garlic. If you have an immersion blender made of plastic, let everything cool down a bit before you stick it in the pot or you may have an equipment malfunction.
If you don't have an immersion blender, you can also puree the soup in a blender, in batches. Only fill the blender about three-quarters full, and put the lid on but take the little plastic center piece out of the lid. If you fail to take the little plastic piece out, the heat from the soup will form a vacuum in the blender with will cause an eruption when you go to take the lid off. If your blender lid does not have the little removable part in the lid, you'll have to let the tomato mixture cool down before you puree it.
And if you have neither an immersion blender nor a blender, then you'll be eating rustic tomato soup.
This soup always tastes better to me the day after it is made. Keep it covered in the refrigerator, then return it to a pot to heat it up. This soup freezes beautifully, and can be thawed and eaten when the weather turns cooler and autumn arrives.
One really fun tip for freezing - freeze the soup in batches in ice cube containers, then pop out the tomato soup cubes and store them in a zip top bag. You can use them as needed by taking the frozen cubed, putting some in a microwave proof bowl, and heating them in a microwave; or filing a crock pot two-thirds full and setting it on the low setting for about four to six hours; or filling a pot on the stove about half full, adding a little water, covering and cooking over medium heat and stirring unti the soup is heated through.
The three quarts of tomato soup I made today will be used to give school kids tastes of tomato soup "made from scratch" without all the preservatives that are in the canned stuff many of them have had before. I'm sure some will like it, and some won't; but if even one kid at some point thinks, "wow, I can do this at home," it will have been more than worth the effort.
