Tomato Soup

Nothing tastes as good as a nice hot bowl of tomato soup in the deep dark days of winter. Well, I kind of like it on the hot sunny days of summer, but that's just me. Up until a few years ago, the only tomato soup I had came from a red and white can. Then I discovered an Italian bistro that made the best from scratch tomato soup. I have been hooked since.

1 cup sun dried tomatoes, loosely packed

1 can of whole peeled tomatoes (28 oz)

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2 tablespoon thyme (I can never find the fresh..if you can, adjust up to 1 tablespoon)

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 medium finely diced carrot

1/2 thinly sliced red onion

salt, pepper

2 tablespoons honey

1 quart vegetable stock

1/4 cup chopped parsley

Preheat the oven to 375F.

Put the sundried tomatos in a bowl and cover with 2 cups of boiling water.

Drain the canned tomoatoes (reserving the liquid). Put half of them in a shallow baking pan and drizzing 2 tablespoons of olive oil over them. Add the thyme. Roast turning over once or twice, until the tomatoes are dried and slightly browned. -roughly 30 minutes

When all the tomatoes are done, drain the dried tomoatoes and pour their soaking liquid in the baking pan. Scrap up all the browned bits from the pan, breaking up the roasted tomatoes. Roughly chop the dried tomatoes and add to the baking pan.

Add the remaining olive oil into a stockpot and heat over medium heat. When hot, add the garlic and cook till it begins to color. Add the carrot and onion and cook till they start to liquify. Season to taste, add honey and stir till it dissolves in.

Add the reserved liquid from the canned tomatoes and continue stirring till the liquid evaporates. Stir in the stock along with the bits from the roasting pan. Turn up to high heat and bring soup to a boil, then lower till you have a slow boil going. Cover and cook till vegetables are tender. roughly 30 minutes

Garnish with parsely.

 

from the iPad