Creamless Creamy Tomato Soup

It was a cold and icy day today, which was perfect for a cozy meal like this! I found this recipe on my Cook's Illustrated app on the iPod. You actually can't view it online because their website requires a subscription. I had been wanted to make tomato soup for a while. I made it the first year we were married but it had chunks of tomato and we don't do tomato chunks in something like this, so I think the leftovers got tossed. We won't be tossing these leftovers, I am pleased to report!

I wanted a creamy tomato recipe, and I thought it was interesting that this one accomplished the thick and creamy texture without using any heavy cream or even milk.

• 1/4 cup evoo
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 3 medium garlic cloves, minced
• pinch hot red pepper flakes (optional)
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 (28-ounce) cans whole tomatoes packed in juice
• 1 T. brown sugar
• 3 large slices good-quality sandwich bread, crusts removed and torn into 1-inch pieces
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 2 T. brandy (optional)

Heat 2 Tablespoons oil in Dutch oven over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add onion, garlic, red pepper flakes, and bay leaf. I was out of onion so I just used onion juice.

Stir in tomatoes (I used crushed tomatoes instead of whole). Using a potato masher, mash until no pieces bigger than 2 inches remain (or used crushed tomatoes!). Stir in sugar and bread; bring soup to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, until bread is completely saturated and starts to break down. Remove and discard bay leaf.

Then I pulled out my new immersion blender! Or you could use a regular blender (which is used in the actual recipe).

You can see how the soup is changing color as it is blended together...awesome!

After soup is blended, stir in chicken broth and brandy (I didn't use brandy...go figure). Return soup to a boil and season with salt and pepper to taste. We had grilled cheese sandwiches with this soup and it was tasty! I think a salad would have gone nicely too, but I didn't think of it until I was cleaning up dinner. Emma LOVED it. It came out thick and creamy, and had a nice kick to it. I think the only changes I would make next time is to maybe only use 2 cloves of garlic (it was a little garlicky) and add a tiny bit more sugar (it was still a little tart). Overall it had a very complex flavor, totally unlike the canned variety.

Beef ragout with spaghetti

This post could also be titled "recipes that don't go quite as you planned". But that happens to me all the time! So here goes....

My plan was to use up some leftover seasoned ground beef I had in the freezer. I had mixed up a batch of Italian burgers a month or so ago, and had about 3/4 lb. of the mix left after making 4 burgers. I froze it with the intention of making meatballs! Here's what went in the mix...

• 3/4 lb. ground beef
• 3 Tbsp tomato paste
• 1 egg
• 1/4 C. bread crumbs
• Parmesan cheese
• sprinkle of dried basil and oregano
• sprinkle of garlic powder
• salt & pepper

I topped the burgers with a slice of provolone, and they were super yummy! So I figured the meatballs would be good too.

I started with a can of tomato sauce over low heat, and made cutesy little meatballs and stuck in the sauce. I covered the sauce and let it simmer.


When I tried to move the meatballs around to stir, though, all the meat decided to fall out of its pretty ball shapes. I think I maybe should have added some more bread crumbs and maybe another egg, since the condensation from defrosting seemed to make the meat moister than it had been before. So I improvised and broke up all the meat with my spoon, and just made a yummy meat sauce! Since I just used tomato sauce, I added s & p, garlic powder, and basil & oregano to taste.

This post also turned into a review of.......


The Pasta Boat!!!!

I know.

I don't usually like gadgets like these, mostly because I feel like I'm cheating and Giada would not be proud of me for cooking pasta in the microwave. But I got it at a white elephant gift exchange, and I figured I should try it out!

I tried it once before, following the direction booklet exactly. I used the proper time and water for "al dente" pasta, and apparently my definition of "al dente" was very different from that of Mr. Pasta Boat. The pasta was super mushy and flimsy. So this time I was supposed to cook my spaghetti for 16 minutes - I cut it to 10 and it was perfectly chewy. (I added it directly to my sauce after draining, so it probably cooked for another minute there).

So though it wasn't what I planned, it was pretty tasty! Add a little fresh spinach sauteed in garlic-infused evoo, and we had a yummy dinner tonight!


Hopefully you guys learn from my mistakes!!