Michael’s Summer Tomato Soup
By Michael Nolan
Ingredients
• 4 large tomatoes
• ½ cup Vidalia onion (any mild, sweet variety will do), chopped
• 3 Tbsp Olive oil
• 1 Tbsp lemon zest, grated
• Fresh basil & rosemary
• 2 cups vegetable stock (you could use chicken if you like)
• Sea salt & Black pepper to taste
1. In a food processor, puree tomatoes until smooth. I leave the peels on, but you can remove the seeds and peels to suit your taste.
2. Sauté onions and fresh rosemary in olive oil over medium heat, approximately 8-10 minutes or until translucent.
3. Lower heat, add lemon zest and tomato puree to the onions and simmer for 15-10 minutes.
4. Add stock and basil and simmer for another 15-20 minutes.
This is a simple and absolutely delicious soup that I actually enjoy chilled (which would technically make it a gazpacho) for a cool lunch just as much as I love to serve it with some crusty homemade bread for dinner.
A lot of tomato recipes call for cream, or even worse in my eyes – heavy cream. That’s just not something that I can deal with in the heat of the Alabama summers. I really enjoy keeping mine light and flavorful.
To be honest, I’ve omitted a few of my favorite ingredients because everyone always tells me that I make it too spicy. If you have a cast iron stomach like I do, feel free to replace the black pepper with cayenne, and add some fresh chopped peppers to the finished product. If you like the heat, you’ll love it in this soup!
July 9th, 2008 at 1:26 am
Oh boy that sounds good. Every tomato that has come out of the garden so far has been eaten raw or made into salsa. If we get some left over, I will make soup.
July 9th, 2008 at 5:52 am
Thanks Michael– you are making me hungry, this dumb old man would like to know is sea salt any better than just the regular kind ? DAD
July 9th, 2008 at 7:03 am
Simple to make and delicious to eat! My kind of recipe. Thanks.
July 9th, 2008 at 7:22 am
Sounds perfect, Michael! And thanks for sharing the bit about the cayenne and hot peppers. I agree, they strike me as far more tomato-friendly than black pepper!
July 9th, 2008 at 11:24 am
Dad – sea salt is more mineral-rich and has a much better flavor as well. I haven’t used “table salt” for years, but many people still do and it would work just fine!
July 9th, 2008 at 3:14 pm
Every time I visit here I just can’t wait for my tomatoes to be ready
Only blossoms so far (which is normal for my area) but lots of them, and big healthy plants this year. This just might finally be my year for a bumper crop. Thanks for the great recipe (and the option for added spice at the end!).