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Italian Herb and Tomato Soup

John Amundson
Jan 16, 2018
2 min read

Oh look, another soup.

No, no please don't leave yet. I know the pictures aren't as pretty. That's because my baby was feeling sick and she's the one who went to school for photography, not me.

Anyways, what she likes when she feels sick is soup, and tonight she asked for Campbell's tomato soup. Of course I said no because tomato soup is like the easiest soup to make in the world. So we went out to the grocery store and got ingredients (most of which came in cans because we live in the middle of nowhere) and made one of the most heavenly tomato soups ever. Well, I made it. She sat on the couch and felt sick. Poor thing.

In the ingredients I just put "Parmesan Cheese". However, our local aldi happened to be selling Parmigiano-Reggiano imported from Italy which was phenomenal grated overtop of the soup. Obviously if you can't find Parmigiano-Reggiano, regular Parmesan works fine (I didn't even know it was sold outside Italy until I saw it at Aldi).

The last thing is the olive oil at the end. Since you're not using it to cook, but rather as flavoring at the end, do try to use the highest quality olive oil you can find. I used the olive oil my mom brought me back from Greece. If you're buying it in the store try to find cold pressed extra virgin. My rule is the more expensive the better unless I'm using it to cook things since heating it up can ruin the flavor. That's why you always use filtered olive oil to cook. Also has a higher smoke point. The more you know. Anyways onto the recipe.

You'll need:

Soup

2 tbsp butter 1 onion, diced Salt 2 cloves garlic minced 1 tsp thyme 1 tsp basil 1/2 tsp tarragon 1/4 tsp celery seed 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes 1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes 1 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth 1 tsp liquid smoke 1/3 cup heavy cream Freshly grated nutmeg Salt and freshly ground pepper Toppings Extra virgin olive oil Freshly grated Parmesan Piri piri hot sauce or any other hot sauce made with fresh herbs

In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium-low heat. Add onions and a big pinch of salt and sweat for 15 minutes.

Add garlic and spices and cook for another 5 minutes.

Increase the heat to medium and add the tomatoes.

Stir and simmer for 10 minutes, then add chicken broth and liquid smoke.

Simmer for 15 more minutes, until the tomatoes are falling apart.

Transfer soup to a blender and purée until smooth, then return to the pot and stir in cream.

Season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Ladle into bowls and garnish with olive oil and Parmesan cheese. Add hot sauce to make it more spicy if you so desire.