Tuesday, September 5, 2017

GARDEN FRESH TOMATO SOUP

Creamy tomato soup filled with just 3 basic ingredients - garlic, carrots, and lots of home picked tomatoes. It's low in calories and makes a great afternoon snack too.


Incredibly delicious tomato soup straight from my garden!

I'm little obsessed with tomato soup. I could probably eat it everyday and never get bored. The beauty of this soup is, it fills you up so you eat less. This soup has so much flavors that you will never buy a canned one again. This is one of my favorite soup, it looks fancy and it tastes great! This easy homemade recipe is filled with just 3 basic ingredients - garlic, carrots, and lots of home picked tomatoes. I also added a sugar and little cream to neutralize the tangy flavor of the tomatoes. It's low in calories and makes a great afternoon snack too.

Since my garden is overflowing with tomatoes of every variety right now, I decided to try my hand at making fresh tomato soup. I used all different varieties, colors, shapes and sizes of tomatoes from my garden. I used mix of fresh heirlooms, cherry, plum and vine tomatoes. This soup is full of garden fresh flavor and can be made in less than 45 minutes.

Boiling veggies in a pressure cooker is best for soups. It shortens the cooking time and doesn't require any butter or oil. I didn't fried the veggies, I directly pressure cooked them as it's a healthy way to cook soup. This soup is versatile, healthy and tastes delicious even without all that oil and butter.


I chopped the veggies into small pieces and added them in the cooker. Than added salt, crush dried basil, water, and, pressure cooked for 2 whistles. This process retains all the color, nutrition and vegetables get perfectly steamed. Sure, this adds few more minutes to the soup but it's totally worth it!!!

Always remember to strain off the liquid, and set aside to add back into the soup later. Blend rest of the contents to the blender to make a smooth puree and return to cooker. Add in the strain water and fresh water, stir occasionally. Bring it to boil, and, reduce the heat for 25-30 minutes, or, until tomatoes have cooked down. Add sugar, oregano, and, season it with salt and pepper. Stir in some fresh cream and heat through. Transfer into the soup bowls and add a bit more cream. Serve hot with crispy croutons on top and enjoy!!

This soup always taste better the next day. If you make a large quantity of the soup, place it in the refrigerator and freeze it but don't add a lot of cream at once. You can also add cashew cream as it makes a wonderful vegan substitute for whipped cream.

Do try this recipe and let me know how you like it!!!


GARDEN FRESH TOMATO SOUP

Serves: 4 People
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 45 minutes
Author: The Food Root

Ingredients

5 cloves garlic, minced
2 diced carrot
21/2 pound fresh tomatoes (mix of fresh heirlooms, cherry, plum and vine tomatoes)
3 cups - vegetable broth
1/2 cup - water
1 teaspoon salt or as per taste
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil, crushed
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cup heavy cream (optional)

Directions

1. Throw in the tomatoes, carrots, garlic cloves and crushed dried basil in the pressure cooker with 3 cups of water. Allow 2-3 whistles. Let the mixture cool for atleast 10 minutes.

2. Take a big enough bowl, strain the water and set aside to add back into the soup later.

3. Blend the soup - Pour all these contents into the blender in batches, and, blend until it's smooth. You need to do this in 2-3 batches. (You can add more water if needed)

4. Pass the tomato puree through the strainer, to remove the skin and seeds. (optional)

5. Return the puree into a pan. Add in the strain water and 1/2 cup water and stir occasionally. Bring it to boil, and simmer for 25-30 minutes or until tomatoes have cooked down.

6. Add sugar, oregano, and, season it with salt and pepper.

7. Stir in the few tablespoon of fresh cream over medium heat until you reach the desired texture.

8. Transfer tomato soup into medium bowls and garnish with cream. (You can avoid cream if you vegan)

9. Serve hot with crispy croutons on top and enjoy!!

Croutons

You can make croutons at home in just 2 minutes. All you need is 4 slices of breads of your choice. Place them on the cutting board, cut them into 1 inch cube. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a pan over medium heat. Stir in the seasoning. Add breads cubes into the pan and toss until they are lightly browned and crisp.

Notes

1. Always remember to strain off the liquid, and set aside to add back into the soup later.

2. Pureeing hot mixture in a blender can be dangerous so let it cool for atleast 7-8 minutes.

3. If you feel that your soup is watery you can add 2 tablespoon of rice

4. If you feel that it's thick you can add a little more water.

5. I also added a sugar and little cream to neutralize the tangy flavor of the tomatoes.

6. Cashew cream makes a wonderful vegan substitute for whipped cream.

7.  If you want to make a large quantity of soup, you can place it in the refrigerator and freeze it, and, eat on another day.

8. If you are going to freeze the soup don't add a lot of cream at once.

21 comments:

  1. Whao! This is a nice tomato ๐Ÿ… soup ! I love your detailed step by step direction in making it . I will be trying this . Thank you .x

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  2. So jealous of your garden! I also love tomato soup, so will definitely try this recipe. Thanks for including the vegan substitute!

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  3. I love how incredibly simple this recipe is. The ingredients are easy to come by and I almost always have them in my fridge. I have been looking for a good tomato bisque without dairy, I will try this without the cream.

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  4. Mmm! This sounds so good! I love tomato soup too! :)

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  5. This sounds like a fabulous recipe. We grow lots of tomatoes so I'm going to have to try this!

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  6. This looks like a simple, healthy recipe. I can't wait until tomato season to try it! I love tomato soup too, but I usually just buy the canned stuff. I'm sure once I get into the habit of making it fresh as I do most other soups, I'll never go back to the canned soup...

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  7. Oh, I just LOVE a fresh tomato soup. Now I have to make this. Thanks for sharing!

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  8. I wish I had green fingers to grow my own veges and herbs! so want to do that after reading this. The taste must have been great

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  9. Looks good! I can't wait until our tomato plant starts blooming :) We are always on the hunt for new vegetarian recipes.

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  10. Sounds like the perfect recipe to try. :)

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  11. Ah such a detailed piece! Now I want to have some soup.. lol

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  12. My 5 year old is a fan of tomato soup and has been begging me to make some... will try your recipe over the weekend :)

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  13. Wow!! This is the kind of food I need. I am hypertensive and is very conscious of what food to eat. The recipe is great because it uses fresh tomatoes. Thanks for writing about this.

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  14. I'm just like you. I could eat tomato soup all the time. This looks delicious!

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  15. My family loves to have soup as an appetizer. I'd like to cook tomato soup for a change, thanks for the recipe :)

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  16. Wow! THis recipe looks fantastic! Thank you for sharing!

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  17. I am not a tomato soup fan, but my mom loves it. I will definitely share this recipe with her. :))

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  18. Wow! This is lovely.
    I love tomatoes and like eating anything I can add some to. Nice one!

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  19. I am obsessed with a good tomato soup! I will have to try this one out.

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  20. Definitely making this part of my weekly cooking for my fam when we have our own place.

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  21. Looks good! I am a tomato soup fan.

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