Fresh Tomato Soup

Here we are at the end of September. The tomatoes are ripening in multiples a day. I only planted two plants this year. The Black Krim has produced at least a half dozen super sized tomatoes and there are a few more ripening now, but the Early Girl plant has produced dozens and dozens of tomatoes. They are smaller and their flavor is milder, but they are perfect for putting in a green salad. I also love to slice them, spread the slices on a nice plate, douse them with good olive oil and balsamic vinegar, then sprinkle with pepper, a bit of salt, and some chiffonade of fresh basil. So good.

Since I have such a bounty of tomatoes, I decided to make fresh tomato soup for lunch. My Dad had a recipe from 1977 in which you simmer the peeled, seeded, and diced tomatoes in butter, then puree them in a blender before adding seasonings and flour for thickening, water and white wine or chicken broth. 

I used that recipe as a jumping off place. Before I simmered the tomatoes, I gently cooked a whole onion, diced, in olive oil, adding a minced garlic clove toward the end of cooking. I added the tomatoes to that with some non-dairy butter, but, although I peeled them, I didn't seed them and only cut each into six wedges. I used a hand blender to smooth out the cooked vegetables but it didn't make the soup smooth, just smoother. The seasonings were the same, but I put in a can of chicken broth instead of water and chicken broth. I also stirred in a few leaves of basil that I had minced. I let it all simmer then made a slurry of flour and water which I stirred in and let it all simmer a bit more until it thickened just a little. Eating it was like tasting the essence of summer. It's also healthy...only 85 calories a serving.

I'm going to give you Dad's recipe, but you can always change things up as I did to make it your own.

Fresh Tomato Soup

2 pounds ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and diced (See note)
3 tablespoons butter or margarine or olive oil
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/8 teaspoon fresh-ground pepper
1 cup water
1/2 cup dry white wine or or vegetable broth or chicken broth - canned or home made

In large saucepan, simmer tomatoes in butter about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and rub through a wire strainer or whip smooth in a blender.
Return to saucepan. Sprinkle in the flour, salt, sugar and pepper, mixing well. Add water, and wine or chicken broth. Heat to simmering. Garnish with pat of butter or crisp crackers or thinly sliced fresh basil.
Makes 6 servings - about 85 calories per serving.

Note: To peel tomatoes, bring a pot of water to boiling, only filling pot half way. With a sharp knife, cut and x on the 'bottom' of the tomato (the end opposite of the stem end). Place the tomatoes into the boiling water and cook a minute or two until the skin near the x starts to separate. Remove tomatoes from boiling water and peel from the x. Peel will come off easily - if it doesn't, return the tomato to the boiling water. To seed, cut in half horizontally and squeeze out the seed and gel. Remove stem end at center and dice.