Cream of tomato soup is irresistible when it is good, and pretty disgusting when it is bad. It is the perfect soup to chase away the end of winter blues. It is rich and tomato-y and the cream gives it a great body and silky texture.
It is best to get whole tomatoes and seed them yourself. Whole canned tomatoes are usaully made with the best tomatoes.
Since tomatoes are not really in season most of the year, I wanted a recipe that could be made with canned tomatoes. It also makes it a lot easier. After peeling 10 pounds of tomatoes last summer, I wanted to try and avoid that process.
Roasting the tomatoes concentrates the flavor.
Cook’s Illustrated recipes are almost always very good and well documented. I went with their
Ultimate Cream of Tomato Soup recipe for their New Best Recipes cookbook (a book everyone should have!).
Ingredients:
Cook’s Illustrated recommends the following ingredients based upon the tastings they did:
- For the chicken broth they recommend Swason’s Organic, Better Than Bouillon, Swason’s “Natural Goodness”, and Imagine Organic. I would guess you can’t really tell the difference with all of the tomato flavor of the soup. I went with the Swason’s though. It is the cheapest and ranked really well, so why not!
- For the whole canned tomatoes they recommend Progresso Italian style with Basil, Redpack (which is in a puree), and Hunt’s. I went with the Hunt’s because that is all they had at my small store. Just as well though, Redpack wouldn’t work since it is in a puree, and I am not sure if you would want the added basil in the Progresso
Notes:
I didn’t have any allspice to add, so I used a Chinese 5-spice blend instead. It is made up of ground cinnamon, fennel, star anise, cloves, and Szechwan pepper. I thought it would add that extra spice note in there and make it a little more complex. It worked great, it made it a much more complex soup. However they are serious about only adding a pinch. I think I added two pinches and a shake, which was just a little too much. Instead of being subtle, you could detect it. It still tasted great though and I would add it again… except just a pinch this time
I was also unable to get all of the caramelized goodness from the roasted tomatoes off of the aluminum foil because it was stuck on. It might be a good idea to use some of that non-stick aluminum foil if you have it lying around. Still work fine without it, and I was able to get most of the tomatoes off.
Ultimate Cream of Tomato Soup
From Cook’s Illustrated, The New Best Recipes
Make sure to use canned whole tomatoes that are not packed in puree; you will need some of the juice to make the soup.
Makes about 5 1/2 cups
- 2 (28 ounce) cans whole tomatoes (not packed in puree), drained, 3 cups juice reserved, tomatoes seeded
- 1 1/2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 4 large shallots , minced
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- Pinch ground allspice
- 2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 3/4 cups chicken stock or canned low-sodium chicken broth
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons brandy or dry sherry
- Table salt
- cayenne pepper
- Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 450 degrees; line jelly-roll pan or rimmed cookie sheet with foil. Spread tomatoes in single layer on foil, and sprinkle evenly with brown sugar. Bake until all liquid has evaporated and tomatoes begin to color, about 30 minutes. Let tomatoes cool slightly, then peel them off foil; transfer to small bowl and set aside.
- Heat butter over medium heat in medium nonreactive saucepan until foaming; add shallots, tomato paste, and allspice. Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until shallots are softened, 7 to 10 minutes. Add flour and cook, stirring constantly, until thoroughly combined, about 30 seconds. Whisking constantly, gradually add chicken stock; stir in reserved tomato juice and roasted tomatoes. Cover, increase heat to medium, and bring to boil; reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, to blend flavors, about 10 minutes.
- Strain mixture into medium bowl; rinse out saucepan. Transfer tomatoes and solids in strainer to blender; add 1 cup strained liquid and puree until smooth. Add remaining reserved liquid.
- Return the pureed mixture to the saucepan, add cream, and heat over low heat until hot, about 3 minutes. Off heat, stir in brandy or sherry; season to taste with salt and cayenne, and serve immediately.
To Make Ahead
This soup can be prepared through step 3, cooled, covered, and refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 2 months. Reheat over low heat before proceeding with step 3.
You could use soy milk instead of cream, and vegetable broth, neither
disturbed the taste.
Great recipe, used my own tomatoes.
Hi there,
Haven’t tried this recipe, but I bet it’s yum. I’m more often eating plants only these days, though. Your recipe would have appeal to strict vegetarians were you to suggest a vegan alternative to the cream and stock. I bet soft silken tofu would do very nicely in place of the cream, veggie stock (especially if made using roasted veggies) would be an awesome chicken stock replacement.
Bon appetit!