Tuesday, October 11, 2016

Basil Tomato Soup With Corn & Cavatelli Pasta
Freeze A Big Batch For Winter

Yellow tomatoes make a delightful soup.

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Yellow Tomatoes
I picked up a yellow tomato plant at the farmer's market this spring. Unfortunately I don't remember the name of the strain, but it grew the biggest, most beautiful, low-acid, tomatoes I've ever experienced. Some of them were a pound and a half! I am definitely going to save its seeds so that I can grow them again next year. Since they are late producers, I'm still harvesting them, even though it's early October.


Since I've already canned dozens of jars of red tomatoes, I thought I'd make and freeze lots of soup so that we could enjoy it this winter. (If you are going to freeze this soup, do so without the corn or pasta. It will take up less freezer space and you can add the corn and cooked pasta when you use it.) It's also a very versatile soup so add any veggies and grain you desire. Or for protein, add some beans or peas. The combinations are endless. This may become one of your favorite soups - it's certainly becoming one of mine.

I developed this recipe using a combination of yellow tomatoes and pink brandywines that are also late producers and are low in acid. You can make this soup with any tomato, but it's best when you use ones that are pulpy, not watery.

Heirloom yellow and pink brandywine tomatoes


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Basil Tomato Soup
Vegan, Dairy Free, Gluten Free with gluten-free pasta
[makes about 8 cups]

Requirements
Hand Immersion Blender

Ingredients
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 cups diced onion
1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 pound new potatoes, peeled and chopped
2 carrots, peeled and sliced
4 to 5 pounds tomatoes, quartered (8 cups)
4 cups vegetable broth
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1/4 teaspoon black pepper, or to taste
2 tablespoons lemon juice, as needed
1/4 cup thinly sliced fresh basil
1 1/2 cups corn kernels (if frozen, thaw)
4 ounces dry pasta or more (cavatelli or shells)


Directions
Add oil to a large soup pot. Cook the onion and red bell pepper on medium-low heat until they begin to soften, about 5 minutes. 

Stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about a minute. Stir in the potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, broth, bay leaf, salt and pepper.



Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until the vegetables are soft and the tomatoes are falling apart. I do not remove the skin or seeds because the immersion blender crushes them up pretty well, but if you want, you can pull out the skins with a long fork during the time it's simmering.

While the soup is simmering, prepare pasta according to directions. Drain and set aside.

Remove the bay leaf. Using an immersion blender, blend the soup until smooth. I prefer an immersion blender rather than a high speed blender, because the immersion blender leaves the soup thicker. If you have to use a blender, don't over process.

Blend until smooth with an immersion blender

Adjust salt and pepper and add lemon juice until it reaches the desired acidity. Stir in the fresh basil.

If you are going to freeze this soup for later, let cool and put in a freezer-safe jar. Allow room at the top as it will expand.

To serve, stir in the corn and cooked pasta. Top with additional fresh basil.




Enjoy!




7 comments:

Unknown said...

I made this soup for some friends in mid-October, and we all loved it! It was a great way to celebrate the last of the summer tomatoes. It had a fresh flavor and no heaviness. I made it without corn or beans so I could freeze the leftovers (although there wasn't much left over!). Thank you Joanne for a great recipe!

Dr. Joanne L. Mumola Williams said...

Glad you enjoyed it Diane. My freezer is full of jars of this soup. I also left everything else out when I froze it. It also makes a nice base for almost any soup.
Thanks for your feedback!
Joanne

Trixie said...

Can I use canned tomato's? Also, do you have directions to make this in my pressure cooker?

Dr. Joanne L. Mumola Williams said...

I haven't made this in my pressure cooker, nor with canned tomatoes but I'm sure you could. Just use the saute function to cooke the onions and red pepper for a few minutes. Then the garlic. Stir in the rest of the ingredients and set the PC on manual - not sure of the timing but 4 to 5 minutes should do it. Let the pressure come down naturally, then proceed with the rest of the directions.
You can probably use canned tomatoes, many of the tomato soup recipes do. Not sure how many you would need and if you used the juice, if you would have to reduce the vegetable broth. You'll have to experiment a bit, but I would think if you used the juice in the 8 cups of canned tomatoes, you might want to reduce the broth to 2 cups. If it looks like it needs more, you can always add it later.
Joanne

Trixie said...

Thank you for the reply! Please continue to share more pressure cooker recipes. I recently got one & love it! I'm going to make your Brussels sprouts recipe for Thanksgiving :)

Dr. Joanne L. Mumola Williams said...

I'm going to write a post with all of my Thanksgiving Instant Pot recommendations. The Brussels sprouts is a good one!

Trixie said...

Awesome!!