Random Summertime Meals And Tomato Soup

A classic summertime meal.

After eating them at a friends home, we made Ina’s Tomatoes Roasted With Pesto and served them with slaw and deep fried crappie.  The tomatoes are a definite keeper recipe and you can hardly beat the fish.

Finally, we had a bunch of small tomatoes with bad spots that weren’t much good for slicing so I tried to replicate a sauce Bev made several years ago using the recipe below.

Ingredients:

70 oz tomato puree

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

1 carrot chopped

1 rib celery

½ red bell pepper, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

70 oz tomato puree

6 oz. tomato paste

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Method:

Prep and cook the tomatoes until well softened.

Add everything (including skins and seeds) to the Vitamixer and process until completely smooth.  Measure the amount and remove to a bowl.

Adjust the other ingredients based upon the amount of puree – I had a little over two quarts.

Heat olive oil in a large pan on medium heat.

Add the vegetables and garlic to the pan, stirring occasionally until the vegetables are softened and cooked through.

Add the vegetables and two cups of the tomato puree to the Vitamixer and process until smooth.

Add this mixture and the remaining tomato puree back to the pan and simmer for an hour to allow the flavors to marry.

Cool and add to storage containers.  I may consider this for our tomato soup in the future.

For the soup, just reheat the sauce as is or add one finely chopped basil leaf and 1/8-1/4 cup of cream per bowl full.

The Verdict:

The sauce was delicious and I was amazed that the puree was completely smooth with virtually no sign of skin or seeds.  It was very good soup as is but even better with the basil and dairy.

Photos can be enlarged by clicking on them and the blue words are links.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

Larry

8/01/23 meal date