Cream of Tomato Soup

Big Daddy's Kitchen

Big Daddy's Cooking with Attitude

Thai Chile

Printer Friendly

Cream of Tomato Soup

This recipe comes from Cook’s Illustrated where testing demonstrated the dramatic results achieved by roasting the tomatoes before incorporating them into the soup. In fact, this technique was more important to the final result than any difference between the use of fresh tomatoes and canned ones. I have modified this only slightly; doubling the cream and eliminating the tomato paste, which I found to have only minimum impact on the final creation. This soup is wonderful and seems especially so on a chilly winter’s day.

2-28 oz. cans	diced tomatoes, drained, with 3 cups juice reserved
1½ tablespoons	brown sugar
4 tablespoons	unsalted butter
4 large	shallots, minced
pinch	ground allspice
2 tablespoons	flour
1¾ cups	chicken stock
1 cup	heavy cream
2 tablespoons	dry sherry
½ teaspoon	cayenne pepper

salt to taste

Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat to 450 degrees; line 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 then peel off foil; transfer to small bowl and set aside.

Heat butter over medium heat in medium saucepan until foaming. Add shallots 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. Whisking constantly, gradually add stock, reserved tomato juice and roasted tomatoes. Cover, increase heat to medium and allow to come to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes.

Strain mixture into bowl while cleaning the saucepan. Put the strained veggies and one cup of the strained broth into a blender and puree until smooth. Return all to saucepan. Add cream and heat over low heat until hot, about 3 minutes. Stir in sherry, season with salt and serve.