Tomatoes are still abundant in the Chesapeake region right now, so get up early and head to your local Farmer’s Market if you don’t already have neighbors offing their extras on you. This is a very simple soup to make and I think you’d be hard pressed to find a tastier tomato soup. It’s very mild in flavor, allowing the sweetness of the fresh tomatoes to prevail, yet definitely has a cayenne kick to it. Adding Vidalia onion and celery gives the soup a richness not found in many other tomato soups.

Fresh Tomato Soup

For a print-friendly recipe see below

1 tablespoon EEVO
2 tablespoons butter
1 minced vidalia onion
2 minced celery stalks
4 finely chopped tomatoes
1 teaspoons minced fresh rosemary
2 cups water
2 tablespoons Better than Bouillon Chicken
white pepper
cayenne pepper

Chop the celery. Be sure to slice it against the grain. I had fresh tomato soup once at a local restaurant and had to ask what the “strings” were in the soup. I couldn’t quite place the texture. The response from the chef was that those strings were indeed celery. A little attentive chopping would have prevented diners from feeling like they were flossing their teeth.

Chop the onions and mince the rosemary. Heat the butter and EVOO is a large soup pot. Add celery, onions and rosemary. Sauté until onions and celery are tender and translucent. A slight burning of the edges will add flavor to the soup so don’t panic if it starts to burn.

Hopefully you have fresh local tomatoes. Nothing beats the flavor. Dice the four tomatoes and add to the pot.

Cook on low for at least 20 minutes until the tomatoes have cooked down into a nice stew consistency.

Take off the burner and let cool for 15 minutes, stirring to help the cooling process.

Place a couple cups of the stewed tomatoes into your hand cranked (or electric) food processor and crank until almost smooth. You’ll still have some vegetable chucks which just adds to the authenticity of a fresh soup. Pour that mixture into a large reserved bowl and continue blending down the rest of the soup.

Once it has all been blended, return to your soup pot, light the stove on low and let heat through for 10 minutes.

Serve immediately with some crusty french bread and a bottle of crisp Pinot Grigio.

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Fresh Tomato Soup

The best use of abundant end-of-the-summer tomatoes

Servings: 4 people

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp EVOO
• 2 tbsp Butter
• 1 Vidalia onion, minced
• 3 Celery stalks, minced
• 4 Tomatoes, diced
• 1 tbsp Fresh rosemary, minced
• 2 cups Water
• 2 tbsp Better than Bouillon, Chicken (or to taste)
• 1 tsp White pepper
• 1/2 tsp Cayenne pepper

Instructions

• Chop the celery, onions and mince the rosemary. Heat the butter and EVOO is a large soup pot. Add celery, onions and rosemary. Sauté until onions and celery are tender and translucent. 
• Dice the tomatoes and add to the pot. Cook on low for at least 20 minutes until the tomatoes have cooked down into a nice stew consistency.
• Take off the burner and let cool for 15 minutes.
• Place a couple cups of the stewed tomatoes into your hand cranked (or electric) food processor and process until almost smooth. Pour that mixture into a large reserved bowl and continue blending down the rest of the soup.
• Once it has all been blended, return to your soup pot, light the stove on low and let heat through for 10 minutes.
• Serve immediately.

Notes