Simple Creamy Tomato Soup

Can you stop after just one potato chip? Or two for that matter? Or, if your neighbors left some home made chocolate chip cookies on your doorstep and you bite into one and it is delicious, could you have just one? Or two?

Last weekend our contractors surprised me by hooking up our stove. I didn't know it was coming, but before they left on Friday they said we could use the stove over the weekend. Whoopee!

I cooked just two things before the tarps went back on for the next round of drywall-skimming-painting. First we made a galette des rois to mark the end of the Christmas season. I had planned to bake it at my sister's house but instead we baked it at home! And I broke that oven in very well, oozing butter all over the pristine bottom. (Note to self: next year, seal the edges of the galette completely and -- just in case -- use a cookie sheet with edges for baking it).

I also made a simple butternut squash soup. I just used what I had on hand, but it tasted like the best soup ever. Not because it was, but because we made it, at home, in our soon-to-be new kitchen. Never mind that I had to run up the stairs from our temporary basement kitchen about 30 times to get all that I needed. I cooked soup! On our new stove!

But I can't stop at that. Cooking those things just whet my appetite. Now I have the urge to cook more.

This weekend I whipped up a batch of another of our favorite soups, a simple creamy tomato soup. I love this recipe because the soup is very tasty, and we can make it even when we are running low on supplies or don't have the energy to make something more complicated.  As long as there are canned tomatoes in the pantry, we can make this soup, even with our limited supplies.

The soup can be topped with a wide variety of toppings, such as fresh herbs, toasted nuts, croutons, or a dollop of creme frâiche.

Best of all, we could make it on a hot plate.

Simple Creamy Tomato Soup
Adapted from Epicuious

Serves 6
10 minutes preparation time
30 minutes cooking time

3 tablespoons olive oil
2 small onions, diced
3 tablespoons flour
3 1/2 cups milk
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons salt
2 28-ounce cans crushed tomatoes, preferably San Marzanos
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon dried thyme
2 tablespoons chopped herbs

In a large pot, heat the olive oil.  Add the onions and cook until they are soft, about 7 minutes.  Sprinkle in the flour and stir until it is incorporated into the onions and no longer visible. Add the thyme and stir again.

Chop the tomatoes or use my favorite method and squish them through your fingers as you take them out of the can. Add them to the pot and sprinkle the baking soda on top of them. Stir to combine fully. Add the remaining ingredients and bring the mixture to a simmer.  Gently simmer for a few minutes to give the flavors a chance to mix and mellow. Remove the bay leaf. Purée with an immersion blender. 

Stir in the herbs, if you are using them. Serve immediately.

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Comments

[Christina]

This looks just fabulous! I LOVE home-made tomato soup. Try adding stilton sometime. There was a restaurant in the covered market in Oxford with terrific soups, one of which was tomato and stilton soup. So, I can't take credit, but can vouch for the combination.

Congratulations on inching closer to having your kitchen back in working order. What range did you get? It looks impressive!

[Margy]

Stilton sounds like an excellent topping. We will definitely try that. The stove is made by La Canche, a French company.

[Duncan]

Margy, what is the baking soda for?

[Margy]

Duncan, it neutralizes the tomato so that the milk doesn't curdle.

[Green Mountain National]

Mmmmhhh! Yummy, tomato is the best. :D

[Nancye]

This soup is going on our short list. I love a great, warming soup in the winter.

Oh, I am coveting your stove. I know that it is a supposed sin to covet, but then I guess I am a sinner, because I want that stove!!

[Margy]

Well, we coveted it too, so I'm right there with you. Even worse, actually, because we gave in to temptation.

[Bill]

I was so excited about this soup that I went out and bought an immersion blender today just to make it the right way. I was not disappointed. Delicious! Thanks Margy.