Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Sun-Dried Tomato Soup



From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...This is the sun-dried tomato soup that Bob made last Sunday. He found the recipe in an old issue of Food and Wine magazine and had clipped it, hoping I'd give it a try. That hadn't happened and it had been languishing a good long while. He remembered the recipe when we were planning a light supper for our rainy day interlude. We quickly agreed on toasted cheese and bacon sandwiches made with chunky slabs of peasant bread and some English cheddar and Irish bacon we had received for the holiday. We both thought the deeply colored soup would be a perfect accompaniment. Many of you know that the Silver Fox was trained as a cook by the army. The story of that misadventure can be found here. While he rarely cooks anything other than holiday breakfasts, he is quite skilled in the kitchen when he wants to be. As you might suspect, I revel in the moments he wants to be. I quickly surrendered half the kitchen and let him have a go at it. This is a pantry soup, so, we had everything he needed to make it on hand. The soup is lovely, but there are a few things you should be aware of if you decide to make it. This bears no resemblance to your mother's tomato soup. As a matter of fact, the soup has the color you associate with a bowl of chili and the predominant flavor is the very distinctive taste of oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes. Palates that like bold flavors will love this soup. Others, probably not so much. The task of making it can be made easier if you use a food processor to chop the tomatoes. If you don't have one at your disposal, snip the tomatoes with kitchen shears as they can be hard to cut with a knife. Bob added a whole can of diced tomatoes and their juices to the recipe and also used a small quantity of concentrated sun-dried tomato paste to intensify the flavor of the soup as it neared the end of cooking. You can have the soup ready for the pot in 20 minutes and on the table in much less than an hour. This will probably never replace your recipe for tomato soup, but it is a wonderful change of pace for those who like strong flavors. We will be making it again. Here's the recipe.

Sun-Dried Tomato Soup
...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite courtesy of Grace Parisi and Food and Wine Magazine

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, sliced
1/2 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained and coarsely chopped
1 (14.5-oz.) can diced tomatoes, drained but juices reserved
1 (14.5-oz.) can chicken broth
2 thyme sprigs
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 tablespoon concentrated sun-dried tomato paste or canned tomato paste
1/4 cup heavy cream

Directions:

1) In a large saucepan, melt butter in the olive oil. Add onion and garlic and cook over moderately high heat, stirring until softened, about 4 minutes. Add sun-dried tomatoes and canned tomatoes. Combine reserved tomato juice and chicken broth in a 3 to 4 cup measure. Add water to make three cups liquid. Add liquid to pot with thyme. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover and simmer over low heat until vegetables are very soft, about 20 minutes. Discard thyme sprigs. Stir in tomato paste.
2) Transfer small batches of soup to a blender and puree. Return to pot and warm over low heat. Stir in creme fraiche or cream and heat through. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Yield: 4 servings.

You might also enjoy these recipes:
Hearty Tomato Soup - Pennies on a Platter
Tuscan Tomato-Basil Soup - Teenie Cakes
Roasted Tomato Soup - Jenn Cuisine
Creamy Tomato Soup and Foccacia - Inquiring Chef
Tomato Basil Soup - Katy's Kitchen
Tomato Soup with Chickpeas and Spinach - Seriously Soupy
Creamy Tomato Soup with Basil - Verses from my Kitchen

60 comments :

Anonymous said...

I will have to give this one a try - tomato soup is under-appreciated, but I'm glad that so many of us are giving it the love it deserves. Next time though, I will certainly be adding your grilled cheese and bacon sandwiches to the side of my tomato soup!

Ginny Hartzler said...

That bruschetta that Bob made looks real good. I think he didn't learn that one in the Army. I love tomato soup and have a recipe that uses tomato juice and cream.

Monet said...

So I think I might finally have a tomato soup recipe that Ryan will eat! He usually thinks tomato soup tastes too bland, but he just adores sun dried tomatoes...so hopefully this will be a hit! Thank you for sharing another great recipe. I hope that you have a wonderful Tuesday filled with love and good eating!

The Red Umbrella said...

I'm sure the soup is good but I love that bowl!

Kankana said...

great time for a yummy hot soup .. have to give this a try :)

Banana Wonder said...

I SO love sun dried tomatoes - and in soup! This is genius! I must get some sun dried tomatoes soon and make this - especially since it's the only way to celebrate tomatoes this time of year.

Kris Ngoei said...

This sun-dried tomato soup is definitely out-of-the-ordinary tomato soup. While most of the time, I like being practical by ordering take-away, I don't mind preparing this soup myself. Simply delicious and the color is just so appetizing.

Lucie said...

I'm thinking Bob's bruschetta would go quite well with the soup, for sun-dried tomato lovers like myself! I'll be sure to try this recipe soon. Thanks, Mary!

Rhonda said...

A pantry tomato soup is perfect for this time a year when fresh tomatoes are lacking in flavor. I'm a lover of bold flavors, I must try this. What a perfect accompianment...grilled cheese and bacon sandwiches (you know I'm a pork loving mouse).

Alessandra said...

A soup with sun-dried tomatoes! What a great idea! I will try this one!

ciao

Alessandra

Ginny Hartzler said...

Thanks for the link to your kitchen. It is beautiful! I love those three windows wrapping around the sink! You must love lots of light constantly like I do. Oh, I love that pantry! We lived in an apartment the first 13 years of our marriage, and had a nice pantry. Then when we moved to this much bigger house, no pantry!! I really miss it.

Diane said...

I have never got past making fresh tomato soup as I usually have so many in the garden but this is a great idea for winter. Diane

Red Nomad OZ said...

Haha! My psychic powers tell me tfat the SF has an all too significant incentive not to be in the kitchen ...

Thanx for dropping by my blog - always a pleasure to 'see' you!

Priya Suresh said...

Delicious soup..

Flavia Galasso said...

Today i say: cangrats to Bob!!! Great and original soup!!! Blessings, Flavia

Anonymous said...

Hi marry the soup look delicious.
Have a nice day.
Blessing
leyla

Rita said...

I never would have thought to make soup with dried tomatoes; looks so good. Really enjoyed reading about Bob's Bruschetta. You had a real talent with words; thank you for sharing and thank you for reading me.
Rita

From the Kitchen said...

I think I'll call this "opportune tomato soup"--opportune in that I've been wondering how to utilize the huge jar of sun dried tomatoes that Andrew purchased last week when I sent him out for some.

Best,
Bonnie

Prema said...

Very interesting and delicious soup...

Kim said...

I love this soup, it sounds good with the combination of tomatoes and sun dried full of flavor tomatoes!

Unknown said...

Very interesting! I never thought to make sun dried tomato soup....genius!!

Valerie Harrison (bellini) said...

So packed with flavour Mary with the sun-dried tomatoes.

Faith said...

You know, I love tomato soup but I don't think I've ever had it with sun-dried tomatoes! What a beautiful twist on a classic...can't wait to try it, and I'm adding sun-dried tomatoes to my grocery list now! Thanks, Mary!

Natalie said...

This looks absolutely delightful!! Perfect for the gloomy weather we've been having!

Claudia said...

I imagine the sun-dried tomatoes give it a really nice intensity - which I like in a soup. Love the combination of tomato flavors in this recipe.

The Food Hound said...

Oh, this soup is right up my alley with the strong flavor! I hate bland! But I know what you mean that it's not like a traditional tomato soup. I totally love that you surrendered half your kitchen... not the whole thing, just half. Mind you, I'm not judging, I barely give up a piece of counter real estate to the BH when he cooks... oh wait, he rarely cooks! :) But I'll keep him anyway :)

Carol said...

He's a keeper in the kitchen, what a great looking soup! Sun-dried tomatoes have such great flavor, that soup looks delicious!

Katerina said...

I love sundried tomatoes. They remind me of summer so much. This soup I believe will be ideal for me.

Ocean Breezes and Country Sneezes said...

This sounds delicious, we love tomato soup! The addition of the sun-dried tomatoes must really enhance this soup. This will definitely be added to my "keeper file" - thank you for sharing! Have a wonderful day!

Tasha said...

No wonder your husband wanted this soup to get made- it sounds wonderful. I'm all for big, bold flavor!

Gloria Baker said...

What lkovely tomatos soup! I love soups every time!! take care dear Mary,xx gloria

Biren @ Roti n Rice said...

This is one tasty soup! The sun-dried tomatoes is a nice addition to the soup. Must have given it great flavor.

Pondside said...

It sounds delicious to me. Tomato is my favorite soup and I've tried many variations over the years.

Lindsay said...

Sometimes life is so funny -- literally yesterday I was looking for a recipe for Sun dried tomato soup after seeing it on a menu at a local restaurant, and here you are! You're like the recipe fairy, Mary!

Joanne said...

Soups and sandwiches...the quintessential lazy day foods. I love the intense flavor of sun-dried tomatoes so I know I would love this soup!

Emily Z said...

This soup looks wonderful, and so warming! I love tomato soup!

Sharon Lovejoy said...

This is so simple and homey. I've made tomato soup, but never with sun dried tomatoes and I adore their punch of flavor.

Thanks for your visit to my last posting, and thanks for your sweet words.

I love my visits here Mary!

Sharon Lovejoy Writes from Sunflower House and a Little Green Island

Jayanthy Kumaran said...

loved ur version Mary...wanna try asap..
Tasty appetite

Donnie said...

I have a man who thinks the only good tomato soup is Campbell's made with milk. I'm not sure if that's good or bad...lol....Love the bowl it is in.

Patricia @ ButterYum said...

Oh Mary - I can taste it now. I'll be heading into the kitchen to make this for dinner tonight!

:)
ButterYum

The Blonde Duck said...

Delicious!

Valérie said...

Now this really sounds delicious! Worlds away from plain, boring tomato soup! What a discovery!

MelindaRD said...

Thanks so much for your comments on my blog. I am so glad you enjoy the recipes I have been making over the past year or so. I have only recently gotten into cooking real meals that involve some prep work, but as a dietitian and moving into that grown up category, I feel like I really need to do this to raise healthy kids when the time comes. It's a work in progress.

This soup looks great. Tomato soup is always a great classic, but the twist with the sun dried tomatoes I think would make it so much more flavorful. Have a great day.

Patricia @ ButterYum said...

Update - I didn't have any regular diced tomatoes in the pantry, so I improvised using Mexican spicy tomatoes, and wow - my taste buds are in love with you. I took some photos, despite the lack of good sunlight - if they turn out, I'll do a post about this soup tomorrow. Otherwise I'll have to make another batch during daylight hours. Fantastic soup!

Thanks so much,
Patricia

Johanna GGG said...

thanks for visiting - I love a good soup to go with a melted cheese on toast and think this would be wonderful

teresa said...

i haven't had very many bowls of tomato soup, no counting the stuff from the can. i can imagine that this is just amazing, i love the flavor of the sun-dried tomatoes. perfect for a cold wet day like we're having!

aipi said...

I love sun dried tomatoes so I know I will love this one..I like how thick it is and I also like your beautiful pot :)

US Masala

Farida said...

Appreciates for your great post and thanks for sharing your recipes.

farida
http://kitchensuperfood.com/tomato-soup-and-bean-soup/

Unknown said...

Don't you just love the men who cook! I like to surrender half the kitchen too (to the man) but also LOVE when he takes to the grill outside!

Looks like his army training trained him well in the kitchen - a nice twist on the classic tomato soup!!!

The Quintessential Magpie said...

Boy, that looks good, Mary! I have always loved tomato soup, and one would a bold flavor would suit me fine. Thanks for the recipe!

XO,

Sheila :-)

nanny said...

I love tomato soup and have been going to make the roasted tomato/garlic soup I saw on Food Network...I have two recipes to make now. Thanks, I think this sounds delicious.

bj said...

Oh, Mary..I do love a good tomato soup. My favorite soup, I think.
This recipe sounds delightful...
xo bj

Anonymous said...

Love this! My husband was just saying the other day that he wanted a homemade tomato soup! This looks incredible. Can't wait to give it a try! :)

Angela said...

I am now very, very hungry. This soup looks fabulous - and I could definitly use a bacon sandwich!

kitchen flavours said...

This is a lovely soup. I have not seen sun-dried tomatoes soup before, sounds interesting. Thanks for sharing, have a nice day!

CaSaundraLeigh said...

Tomato soup has always been a favorite of mine. I am always up for trying new varieties of it too. This sounds perfect for a cold winter day!

Miriam said...

The soup sounds perfect! Miriam@Meatless Meals For Meat Eaters

La Table De Nana said...

Thank you thank you:)!

carolyn bradford said...

Making this today for sure! Thanks for posting it!

Heather said...

I am posting this on my blog today bc it was so delish!!! bellesbazaar-heather.blogspot.com

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