Tomato Soup for the Soul (featuring Greek Tomato Soup)

For all of you out there with cold feet, throbbing headaches, and damp socks. slush 

For those who trudged through 1 ½ feet of sleet water to cross the street over and over again.0226_new_york_snow_full_600

For those who shoveled for hours even after the snow turned to rain and then to solid ice. 

 

For those who got stuck on the train in a tunnel for a half hour and then missed your meeting.

For those who forgot to eat lunch and took it out on everyone during the slow bus ride home. 

For those of you trapped at home with no power.

For the cabs with spinning wheels and no traction.

For those with 3 pairs of soaked “waterproof” boots. 10007732_82172_full

For those of you turning in to the black ice spin.

For those of you ordering out again.

For those of you coming down with something.

1538710_10152119689644539_1613044919_nFor those of you with stir-crazed dogs who pee when you walk in the door.

For those of you who just need a big hug.  

For those whose appointments all got canceled after you’d already left the house.

For those of you looking for blue skies and even those hoping for another storm.

 

For those of you tired of the weather channel naming snowstorms.download

For those of you Californians who think it’s chilly when it gets below 70 degrees. 

For those of you newlyweds and those starting over.   

 

And mostly, for those of you with writer’s block, I give you…

Tomato Soup

 

Tomato Soup for the Soul

(or Greek tomato soup as I like to call it because instead of cream I use Greek yogurt)

Ingredients

  • 1 (28-ounce) can whole San Marzano tomatoes, packed in juice
  • 1 tablespoon brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1 small onion, diced
  • 1 teaspoon sherry
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
  • 1 teaspoon cornstarch
  • ½ teaspoon cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon sweet paprika
  • 2 cups low-sodium chicken stock or vegetable stock
  • 1/4 cup plain Greek Yogurt (or 1/4 cup heavy cream if you prefer to take the Greek out)
  • salt and pepper
  1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil and grease lightly.  Open the can of tomatoes, with a spoon, scoop the whole tomatoes out and lay them onto the foil. Don’t throw out the tomato juice in the can.
  2. Sprinkle the tomatoes evenly with brown sugar. Bake until all liquid has evaporated and tomatoes turn brown for about 30 minutes. The edges will be dark brown or burned and this is fine. Let the tomatoes cool slightly, then peel them off the foil; transfer to a small bowl and set aside.
  3. Meanwhile, heat butter over medium heat in a large saucepan until foaming. Add onion and cook for 5 minutes, adding a bit of salt to release the liquid. Add the sherry and cook for a minute. Add the tomato paste and cook over low heat for about 4 minutes. Add cornstarch, cinnamon, and sweet paprika and cook, stirring constantly, until thoroughly combined, about 30 seconds. Add chicken stock and then stir in reserved tomato juice and roasted tomatoes. Cover, increase heat to medium, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, to blend flavors, about 10 minutes.  
  4. Pour into a blender (carefully) or use an immersion blender to puree the soup until it’s smooth.
  5. Put a small amount of the soup into a bowl, let cool for a few minutes, and stir the yogurt in.  This will keep the yogurt from curdling too much.  Slowly stir the yogurt mixture back into the main mixture.
  6. Season with salt and pepper to taste.  It can be put back on the heat, but do not bring it to a boil because the yogurt will curdle a bit.


12 thoughts on “Tomato Soup for the Soul (featuring Greek Tomato Soup)”

    • Karen,
      You’re such a woman of action! I love how many people jumped right into the kitchen after reading this blog.
      Thanks for letting me know it turned out well.
      xo
      aw

  • aaaaand now I know what to make for dinner tonight 🙂 Never occurred to me to roast/caramelize tomatoes pre-souping, you genius you! Plus, I never use cream or milk in recipes anymore, because my gut-flora object strenuously. They don’t, however, rebel when yogurt is involved, so this is PERFECT. Making recipes from your blog isn’t QUITE as satisfying as actually sharing a kitchen with you, sweetcakes, but I’ll take what I can get! I’m headed to the kitchen NOW.

    • Cricket!
      I actually learned the roasting tomatoes trick from Cook’s Illustrated. Anything caramelized is better than anything not-caramelized in my book. The Greek yogurt is all me though, mostly because so many of my clients have trouble with cream. Please let me know how it turns out (pictures too if you’ve got em).
      Miss you!
      aw

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