Vendor: Chef Mark
Type of Meal: Appetizer
Ingredients:
4 Good summer tomatoes, chopped
2 Big carrots, chopped
1 Onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
¼ c. olive oil
¼ c. each basil and parsley, chopped fine
Salt and pepper to taste
1. Heat oil in soup pot and add onions, carrots and celery. Let these sweat and caramelize over medium heat for 10 minutes.
2. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute then add chopped tomatoes.
3. Turn heat up and simmer until veggies are really soft and tomato liquid has reduced by half, maybe 20 minutes.
4. Puree mixture and strain or put through a food mill to achieve a smooth consistency.
5. Return to pot, taste for salt and pepper, add fresh herbs and enjoy. You could add some sugar to this if the tomatoes are on the acidic side, or ¼ c. cream if you want it richer.
Background/Suggestions:
Canned tomato soup is something we all know. It can be comforting and good, but a truly great tomato soup can be made in almost the same time it takes to travel to the grocery store for a can of the other stuff. Out at Cornman Farm, as we search for flavorful heirloom tomatoes to grow, we come across seeds for old processing and truck farm varietals once used for the canned tomato industry. Rutgers is one that was developed by Campbell’s and grown in New Jersey specifically for their soup. There are other ones, like Santa Clara canner and Wisconsin 55. We’re growing some Rutgers this year so I’m bringing some in from the farm to combine with other ingredients from the market to make a really great tomato soup.
