Thursday, April 20, 2006

Yellow Tomato Soup

Have you ordered your garden seeds yet? If flowers are for the heart, tomatoes should be for the soul, your garden should have both. Tomatoes require so little from the gardener and for a small effort, you will be blessed with a bounty of fruit. In most cases once you start picking, sharing becomes a requirement, your neighbors will love you. If you need more convincing, just think back a few months to the taste and price of a store bought tomato, how horrible. So now order your seeds, prepare your ground and allow room for at least one yellow tomato plant. The joy of nurturing a garden is a good thing not to mention the delicious results in the kitchen. Pause just for a minute and feast your eyes. on this yellow tomato soup. Of course you can make it red as well.adapted from The Good Cook Techniques & Recipes
Soups
Adapted from the editors of Time-Life books

Italian Tomato Soup
Minestra di Pomidoro
To make crostini, saturate slices of bread with melted butter, spread them thickly with grated Parmesan and cook them in
a moderate oven for 10 minutes. An anchovy fillet may be placed on each slice. Cooks Note: we normally don't use butter when making crostini, but use olive oil instead. Slice crusty Italian bread into rounds and place in the oven under the broiler till slightly brown about 2 minutes. Take the slices out turn them over and toast the other side. Then rub the toast with a garlic clove and drizzle or brush with olive oil.
To serve 4
  • 1 1/2 Ib. tomatoes, peeled and chopped 3/4 kg.
  • 1/3 cup olive oil 75 ml.
  • 1 garlic clove, crushed 1
  • 1 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley, basil or rnarjoram15 ml.
  • 2 1/2 cups meat or chicken stock 625 ml.
  • salt and pepper
  • sugar
  • crostini (optional)
    Melt the tomatoes in the olive oil; add the garlic and the parsley or basil or marjoram. Cook for 5 minutes, then add the stock, salt and pepper, and a pinch of sugar. Cook for 5 minutes more only. By this method the flavor of the tomatoes is retained and the soup tastes very fresh. In the summer this soup can be eaten iced, accompanied by hot crostini of cheese and anchovy.
    Cooks note: Concerning the melting of the tomatoes.
    I agree that the tomatoes should not be over cooked, but I like the sweetness created by cooking off some of the liquid rather than adding sugar. To maintain a fresh tomato taste, I add a half a dozen medium tomatoes right at the end. Cook for five minutes, then run the whole works through a food mill to rid it of skin and seeds. I especially like the taste of fresh marjoram in this tomato soup but any bright flavoured herb or a blend of herbs will work just fine.

    Optional garnish of roasted red cherry tomatoes
    and sour cream.
    Related Tags: ,
  • 1 comment:

    AmyD said...

    I just linked to your blog from CreamPuffsinVenice, and it is beautiful and full of yummy-yummy looking things.

    I just started my own blog this week, and plan on sticking you on my blog-roll.

    I will be visiting regularly from now on!