Cream of Tomato

[Alix]

OK, never made this from scratch but all my maters are ripening all at once so I thought maybe I'd give it a go. Can I run past you what I'm thinking of and you guys can correct me on the finer points please? Thanks!

OK, blanch and remove skins, seed and chop tomatoes. Put in pot with a bit of water, and maybe some onion or garlic too. Simmer on low til tomatoes mush up and then buzz with the hand blender. Season to taste (what would be good here?) and add warmed cream just at the end and serve with a crusty loaf of bread.

 

[Shunka]

I add sauteed onions, celery and a touch of beef base to mine. It looks good, Alix. A pinch of thyme, rosemary, sage, marjoram, savory, garlic or basil would be good in this as well.

 

[VeraBlue]

Would you consider roasting those tomatoes in the oven, tossed lightly with olive oil, fresh herbs, and cracked pepper? You'll get a very earthy, comforting flavour.... Then add to a stockpot in which you've carmelized some onions and deglazed with sherry....Add some water and chicken base or stock, whir away...and then add your cream.

 

[Alix]

YOWZA! You guys rock!

Yes Vera, I would definitely consider it. Do I do that before the skins come off? I suspect if I roast them in the oven the skins would just slide right off. Can you walk me through that please?

 

[VeraBlue]

The skins would come right off, but you'll lose some of the flavour of the oil and herbs, so, blanch them first to make skinning them easire. Plus, you'd have to let them cool enough to handle.

Blanch, skin and seed. You don't even need nice chopped tomatoes at this point since you are going to whir it later.

Toss them into a bowl with the oil, fresh cracked pepper and fresh herbs. I like tomato soup with a bit of an italian flavour, so I'd also toss some grated romano in before roasting. Roast them for 20-30 minutes at 350.

Meantime, in the stockpot, sautee onions and shallots until carmelized. Deglaze with sherry (or whatever you like...marsala is nice too). Add the tomatoes and some chicken stock and simmer for 20 minutes. If you have an immersible blender, just put it into the pot and whir away. Return to the heat, add the cream to taste, check the seasonings...and then serve.

 

[Robo410]

I do the roasting thing too, with evoo, fresh basil garlic salt and pepper, and chilli flakes to taste...roast about an hour at 325. score the skins before roasting and the skins will remove easily. I puree the rest in a food mill, seeds and remaining skin get found and removed there, but a puree stick works too or a processor or blender. adjust seasoning, add broth and or cream to taste. enjoy the real thing! also good with eggplant added in.

 

[Alix]

I don't have a food mill, but I DO have an immersible blender. Thanks so much. I'm going to try this. I think I will blanch the big tomatoes and leave the little guys skin on. Try a little of both ways. I'll post how it turned out.

Edit: think brandy would be OK or is it too much? Just realized no sherry in the house. Just dry reds, whites, brandy and some good rye whiskey (unblended).

 

[VeraBlue]

I don't have a food mill, but I DO have an immersible blender. Thanks so much. I'm going to try this. I think I will blanch the big tomatoes and leave the little guys skin on. Try a little of both ways. I'll post how it turned out.

Edit: think brandy would be OK or is it too much? Just realized no sherry in the house. Just dry reds, whites, brandy and some good rye whiskey (unblended).

Personally, I wouldn't do the brandy with tomato, go for the red. Save the brandy for when you make pumpkin soup.

 

[Buck]

Get Katie E to post her roasted tomato sauce recipe. It's great. She roasts tomatoes in olive oil, adds some herbs and then cans the whole lot. Substitutes it for commercially canned tomato sauce in most recipes. Really, really delicious.