A Better Cream of Tomato Soup

This isn’t one of those involved, gourmet recipes. There is no cream in this soup, no fresh tomatoes and herbs. There is no chopping and sauteeing and pureeing. Effort-wise, it is only a small step up from dumping out the contents of a box or can into a pot and heating it up. Flavor-wise, it is very similar to what you get from the boxed soups (like the Trader Joe’s), but (a) it is a whole lot cheaper and (b) it is a whole lot more convenient.

Yes, you heard right. This recipe is even more convenient that pre-made soup. Why? Because all you need is a can of tomato paste, milk, flour, oil/butter, water, salt and pepper. All things you keep on hand all the time anyway.

Here is all that you have to do to make this soup:

Heat a little butter and flour in a saucepan. Add milk and stir until thick. Add tomato paste, water and some seasonings.  Heat through and serve with grilled cheese sandwiches or open-faced cheese toasts.

It is amazing that you can get so much flavor from these modest ingredients, but I have been experimenting with cream of tomato soup recipes for some time now, and this is my favorite so far.

Pizza Soup

I have made a tomato soup from One Big Table twice already. It is supposed to be a wholesome clone of Campbell’s tomato soup.

The first time I made the recipe as written (well, more or less). I served it with salad with breaded warm goat cheese rounds (in both One Big Table and the NYT cookbook), mac’n’cheese (for the kids), and the whole wheat muffins.

The other night, I made the soup again, and gave it a pizza spin by adding a little oregano and Parmesan cheese. I served it with cheese toasts. Lacking any sliced bread, I melted cheese onto whole wheat matzah, but I think cheese melted on Italian bread slices would be even better (or, at least, more pizza-ish).

Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese

We love vegetable soup around here.

Rich in vegetables, beans and whole grains, these soups are inexpensive, filling, high in fiber and vitamins, low in calories, and kid-friendly, too. Vegetables that my son would normally reject are happily gobbled up by the steaming bowlful.