Nothing like a good tomato and rosemary soup, to get the best out of the tomato when it is ripe and in season.
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Yesterday I harvested nine pounds of very ripe tomatoes. My idea was to make my basic tomato sauce: the one I use when I make pizza, meatballs, and my buttery tomato sauce for pasta…
Tomato Soup: A Family Recipe
However, as cloudy today, I decided to use half the tomatoes to make this colorful tomato and soup, just as my mom taught me. I’m not sure where she got the recipe from. We did it together in the summer of 2009, and the success was total.
The flavor, both delicate and defined, is provided by the onions sautéed in butter, the fleshy and ripe tomatoes, which I recommend peeling (if you don’t have a super blender), and fresh rosemary.
I love both tomatoes and soups, and I also love rosemary and the subtle flavor and aroma it brings to this soup, so what can be better than this?
How to Thicken Tomato Soup
The rice provides the thick consistency of this soup. Yes. As you hear it. Four tablespoons of rice are all it takes to thicken this tomato soup.
My suggestion is to use pearl, short-grain, arborio type rice, which is used for Italian risottos. You can also use Valencia rice, which is the rice used for both arroz caldoso and paella. These short-grain kinds of rice tend to have more starch than long-grain rice, such as basmati or jasmine. So they are perfect for thickening soups and stews.
Fresh Herbs vs. Dry Herbs
I always prefer to cook with fresh herbs. I mean, I prefer fresh herbs to dried ones. My mom makes this soup with thyme, but I noticed I didn’t have fresh thyme on hand, so I substituted rosemary for it, and it worked perfectly.
Let’s say rosemary is the “dominant” herb in this recipe. However, when serving, I add a little parsley, also fresh, which in addition to color, adds freshness to this delicious soup.
Peeled Tomatoes vs. Unpeeled Tomatoes
Before buying my Vitamix, I peeled tomatoes to make this soup. As I always say, every minute spent peeling tomatoes is offset by the delicate, silky texture of this soup. Now since I bought the Vitamix, I find this step unnecessary. However, if you blend with a regular blender or an immersion blender, always peel the tomatoes for this recipe.
How to Make Tomato and Rosemary Soup
This soup is prepared in three easy steps:
- First, cook the onion, tomato, and rosemary in butter.
- Once cooked, remove the rosemary and blend until it gets the consistency of a thick sauce or soup.
- Finally, transfer the mixture back to the pot, add hot water and rice, and cooks again.
To make this recipe you will need some utensils, including:
Tomato & Rosemary Soup Recipe
The following is my recipe. I hope you like it as much as I do. Thanks for subscribing to my YouTube channel and visiting my Amazon store.
Tomato and Rosemary Soup
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups onion coarsely chopped
- 3 Tbs. butter
- 4 cups tomatoes peeled and coarsely chopped
- 2 rosemary sprigs
- 4 cups boiling water
- 4 Tbs. rice, uncooked
- 3 Tbs. parsley, finely chopped
Instructions
- In a pot with a lid, melt the butter over medium heat and sauté the onions until they are transparent.
- Add the tomatoes and rosemary and cook them until they are juicy, for about 10-12 minutes.
- Turn off the heat and remove the rosemary.
- In the vase of a blender, process the tomato and onion mixture until it is smooth.
- Pour the tomato mixture back in the pot. Add water, and rice, cover and simmer for 20 more minutes.
- Salt to taste.
- To make it richer you may want to add some more butter.
- Serve and garnish with parsley.
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I am a writer who cooks or a cook who writes: the order of the qualities does not alter the product. Since 2010 I made SAVOIR FAIRE the place where my two passions converge and now I develop recipes professionally and work as a strategist and creator of digital content, including the production of cooking videos.
