Some days just call for a nice bowl of soup. In fact, some days just DEMAND it!
After visiting Leigh-Ann's Grandma (in Canada) for lunch one day, I decided that I do, in-fact, LIKE tomato soup.. I'd never had it before that chilly afternoon. Yeah, I know.. I'm 26 years old and had never had tomato soup. LAME!
Anyway, I wanted to make some soup from scratch since good old Campbell's has a load of crap in it. High fructose corn syrup? Corn and canola oil? "Flavoring?" What the hell IS "flavoring" anyway? My guess? MSG or Monosodium glutamate, a flavor enhancer additive that's just no good. It gives me migraines , blurs my vision and make me puke. NO bueno.
Back to the soup. So, after browsing a few recipes, I kind of went into the kitchen and made one up myself. Hope you like it! Maybe some of you veteran tomato soup lovers can give me some feed-back!
Violet's Tomato Soup
- 1 Tbsp. Organic olive oil
- 1 large shallot (can sub onion), finely chopped
- 1 clove of garlic, minced
- 1 1/2 - 2 1/2 cups chicken or veggie broth
- 1 15 oz. can of tomato sauce
- 1/2 Tbsp. flour (used gluten-free brown rice flour)
- 2 Tbsp. sour cream (sub with vegan sour cream or omit, if you'd like)
- 1 cup milk (optional, see instructions)
- 1/4 cup chopped tomatoes (optional, use any kind)
- a bit of sweetener (honey, stevia, agave, or natural sugar)
- salt and pepper to taste
Gather your ingredients. Aren't they pretty?
Mr. Brown Rice Flour missed picture day.
Chop shallots. These are the sexiest shallots I've ever seen. Damn.
Add to a large sauce pan with olive oil. Saute until soft. Add minced garlic and saute until fragrant, but do not let burn (burnt garlic = sour, gross garlic). Add tomato sauce and broth and stir until well mixed. [Now, here comes the tricky milk/no milk part. If you ARE using milk, then only add 1 1/2 cups of broth at this time. If you're NOT using milk, add the full 2 1/2 cups broth now.] Sprinkle flour into soup and mix with a whisk or a fork, being careful not to let the flour clump and get lumpy. Dump chopped tomatoes, if using, into mixture and stir.
Bring to a simmer. The mixture should thicken up a bit.
Turn burner off and add sour cream and milk, if using. Whisk until smooth and season with salt, pepper and a bit of sweetener if you want it bit sweeter.
MUST be served with a sandwich. Must! Must! It's just a rule!
Grilled cheese works best.
