Soups On

      

Since Winter is going to be over soon here in Houston, I am trying to get in all my favorite winter meals, and that includes a lot of soups. This is my moms tomato soup recipe that we always had on hand. It reminds me of summer too because she always bottled this when the tomatoes were ripe and there were bushels of them, so she was canning soup for days. She of course used fresh tomatoes right out of our garden, but one day I didn't have enough fresh tomatoes and decided to use half canned. It still tasted the same. Another day I was in Costco and they had those ginormous cans of crushed tomatoes for around $2.50 so I thought I'd try just canned tomatoes. Although Martha Stewart wouldn't approve or probably agree, it tasted the same to me since you are cooking the tomatoes anyway. So, since Martha is most likely never going to be eating this soup with me, I have included amounts for both fresh and canned tomato amounts and you can choose:

Moms Tomato Soup

3-4 qts. tomatoes, cut up (about 14 cups, 2lbs =1 qt.) OR

3 lg. (30 oz) cans crushed tomatoes OR

One big ginormous can - 100 oz. (when I use this, I add a little more onion and celery)

2 onions chopped

1 stalk celery chopped

3-4 Tbsp. Parsley

1/4 c. flour

1/4 c. butter

3 tsp. salt

1 Tbsp. Sugar

1 tsp. pepper

1-2 Bay Leaves

2 tsp. basil (optional)

   Put first list of ingredients (vegetables) in a big pot and cook until celery is tender. Melt butter and add flour to make a roux, cooking the flour for about a minute. Add liquid from the tomatoes to thin it out. Add to soup. Process soup until smooth (I use my heavy duty blender, the food processor doesn't get it smooth enough). Add rest of ingredients and heat through. 

One last note. When I first tasted this, I thought I had done something wrong because it didn't taste like I remembered it. My kids had added some cheddar cheese to theirs so I tasted it and THEN it tasted right. Must be eaten with either a grilled cheese sandwich OR shredded cheddar cheese on top. You choose. Enjoy