weeknight tomato soup – smitten kitchen

Whereas this isn’t the Smitten Kitchen’s solely tomato soup — there’s one with roasted summer time tomatoes capped with an open-faced grilled cheese sandwich within the archives, and additional again, a basic cream of tomato soup tailored from Cook dinner’s Illustrated — neither are this: a seasonless tomato soup I could make on any wet day, together with the nonnegotaible grilled cheese sandwiches, in beneath an hour. Each of the archived recipes have their charms; the primary is nice when tomatoes are at their peak. The second is superb however fussy, extra superb for whenever you’ve acquired the time or endurance to indicate off. However this has eclipsed each within the rotation for the final couple winters, and some issues make it excellent for us:

– Sure, grocery retailer tomatoes: In the event you, like me, purchase cherry or grape tomatoes much more typically than you utilize them up, this soup is for you. No, I don’t imply superb, peak-season cherry tomatoes from a backyard or farm stand on a sizzling summer time day; save these for snacking or a salad. I actually imply even the extremely mediocre ones you may discover on sale at a sequence retailer within the useless of winter. This soup makes the argument that even bland, low season cherry and grape tomatoes will present extra taste and nuance than canned tomatoes and the proof might be within the bowl. And sweetness! Cream of tomato soup recipes add slightly sugar, however I discover that storebought grape tomatoes present sufficient with out it.

– A easy base: Every little thing else is about merely layering in taste — onions cooked in butter till candy and flippantly browned on the edges, garlic, pepper flakes to style, a splash of sherry if that’s your factor, tomato paste, and any form of broth you wish to use, vegetable or rooster. It simmers for quarter-hour (that is whenever you make the grilled cheese sandwiches) and blends easy.

– Cream-optional: This was supposed to be a cream of tomato soup, and you’ll, when you’d like, add cream on the finish to style. However the texture is so velvety and easy from the tomato and candy onions, you may discover you don’t want or need it in any respect.

– Riffable: This isn’t simply my new weeknight tomato soup, it’s a basis I’ve used for lots of tweaked leftovers. Typically, I’ll add cooked lentils (Dealer Joe’s stay my fridge staple), however even some tortellini, and a handful of spinach wilted in, plus slightly parmesan on prime work properly too. And it really works as effectively with the French onion soup-style grilled cheese on prime because the roasted tomato soup does.

Podcast! My new podcast with J. Kenji Lopez-Alt, The Recipe with Kenji and Deb, launched this previous week and our first episode is all about Stovetop Mac-and-Cheese! You may hearken to it wherever you get your podcasts and I’ve arrange a brand new podcast tab/web page the place you may sustain on it right here, too. We could have new episodes each two Mondays and this tomato soup will characteristic prominently in Episode 4! We’ve been engaged on this behind the scenes for the final yr — I hope you get pleasure from listening alongside.

Beforehand

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