M is for Money

Summer is the perfect time for tomatoes. Unfortunately it’s not the perfect time of the year to make tomato soup. Soup is best in cold weather - and no don’t mention gazpacho. Making soup from scratch means steaming up the kitchen, when it’s already steamy outside. But with our garden churning out tomatoes faster than we can eat them, it was time to sacrifice a few to soup.

It’s the same situation with zucchini, eventually our one plant will overwhelm us and I’ll break down and make my famous zucchini bread despite the one hour baking time. We’ve been eating tomatoes daily, in salads and pastas. We started the plants quite early so they are in full production mode already. Based on my garden harvest tracker we’ve picked nearly 7 pounds of tomatoes in 7 days. Soon I’ll have to resort to gallons of salsa and homemade marinara to deal with the excess. The one problem with a backyard garden is the feast/famine cycle. At first you wait in anticipation of the first tomato, which always takes forever to ripen. Then you are inundated with more produce than you know what to do with. Our ancestors had to deal with this every year in order to survive, I can’t even imagine. My best plan of action is the freezer, if all else fails we’ll bag and freeze what we can’t eat. The rest of the garden was planted later, so the tomatoes are all I have to cope with for the moment. By July everything else will be popping and I’ll be in trouble.

Roasted Tomato Soup

Ingredients - Roasted Tomatoes

2-3 pounds tomatoes, preferably roma
Olive oil
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
Garlic powder
Salt and Pepper

Ingredients - Soup

1 medium onion, diced
1 tbsp olive oil
2-3 cups vegetable or chicken broth (low sodium preferably)

Directions:

Turn on the oven to 275 and line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil. Slice the tomatoes in half and remove the seeds. Coat each in olive oil and place in the pan before sprinkling them with the herbs and spices, salt and pepper. Place the cookie sheet in the oven and cook for at least 1 hour. Juicier tomatoes will require more time, the tomatoes should appear slightly shriveled and the edges should be turning brown. At this point you can set the tomatoes aside for later or finish the soup. In a large saucepan over medium heat sauté the diced onion in olive oil for 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes and broth and bring to a boil. Once the soup is boiling reduce the heat to a simmer and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. This will help break down the tomatoes. Use a blender to puree the soup, I use an immersion type and do it right in the pan. Be careful transferring hot soup to an upright blender. Season to taste. Also you can add cream, olive oil or butter to make a richer, creamier soup. It’s OK to be naughty!


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