Garden Fresh Tomato Soup - Grateful Prayer

Use those beautiful summer ripe tomatoes from your garden or the market to make Homemade Garden Fresh Tomato Soup.

I do love a bowl of Campbell’s tomato soup but I have wanted to make a homemade version of garden fresh tomato soup to compare. Wow! It tasted so good that I have made two batches this week and just can’t get enough! Use those beautiful summer ripe tomatoes from your garden or pick up some from the market to make a yummy potful.

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Now the weather has been unseasonably cold and rainy making a bowl of soup appealing but I could eat this any day. So fresh and delicious. And I couldn’t believe it is so low calorie. I checked several calorie calculators and was thrilled that it is only 80 calories per cup.

Favorable Garden Fresh Tomato Soup

There are really just a handful of ingredients. I was so tempted to add additional herbs because I was concerned it would be bland. I decided to simply follow the recipe and I am so glad I did. The fresh tomatoes gives it all the flavor it needs. But, if you’d like, go ahead and add fresh or dried herbs.

I doubled the recipe and it still makes only 6-cups of soup. That is enough if you have a sandwich or if you are serving as a first course but really 1 1/2 to 2 cups is what I like per main course serving.

Top with a few croutons, crumbled crackers or shaved Parmesan cheese. Serve with grilled cheese sandwiches or bread topped with cheese and browned under the broiler.

Preparing the tomatoes

Choose fresh, ripe tomatoes from your garden or from the market. I like to use plum tomatoes but I think any tomato will work.

Wash and chop the tomatoes to measure 6-cups. Chop onion and garlic, if using.

Toss in cloves (the spice kind of cloves).

This is how the soup looks after boiling gently for 30 minutes.

Straining the tomatoes

Remove from heat and carefully pour the hot tomato mixture into a food mill sitting in a large bowl or pot. Turn back and forth until all of the liquid runs through the food mill. I scrape the pulp from the bottom as it gives the soup more body. Discard any stuff left over in the food mill.

Now you have the tomato liquid from the mill.

Making a roux

In the now empty Dutch oven or stockpot, melt the butter over medium heat. Stir in the flour to make a roux.

Cook until the roux is a medium brown.

Gradually whisk in a bit of the tomato mixture, so that no lumps form, then stir in the rest. Season with sugar and salt, then adjust to taste. Simmer a few minutes longer to thicken to desired consistency.

When I began the recipe I thought I would add a little milk or cream like I do when I make tomato soup from a can. I planned on reducing the mixture and then adding the milk. I didn’t need to because the butter makes the tomato soup rich and creamy.

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Homemade Garden Fresh Tomato Soup

slightly adapted from source

Yield: 6-cups

INGREDIENTS:

8 cups chopped fresh tomatoes
2 small onions, sliced
8 whole cloves (spice cloves)
8 whole garlic cloves (optional – see note)
4 cups chicken broth
4 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
4 teaspoons white sugar

DIRECTIONS:

In a Dutch oven or stockpot, over medium heat, combine the tomatoes, onion, cloves (spice cloves) and chicken broth. Bring to a boil, and gently boil for about 30 minutes.

Remove from heat and carefully pour the hot tomato mixture into a food mill sitting in a large bowl or pot. Turn back and forth until all of the liquid runs through the mixture through the food mill; discard any stuff left over in the food mill.

In the now empty stockpot, melt the butter over medium heat. Stir in the flour to make a roux, cooking until the roux is a medium brown. Gradually whisk in a bit of the tomato mixture, so that no lumps form, then stir in the rest. Season with sugar and salt, and adjust to taste.

RECIPE NOTE:

The original recipe was a little confusing at first, at least to me. It called for cloves and I assumed it meant garlic cloves and so that is how I made it. We loved the soup. I think it actually calls for the little brown spiky spice sometimes used on baked hams. I made a second batch of soup using the spice cloves and just a few cloves of garlic. Honestly, the soup is great either way.

Homemade Croutons

Top your tomato soup with golden brown, crunchy croutons. They are so easy to make and a great way to use stale bread. Find the recipe by clicking Homemade Parmesan Croutons.

Serving suggestions

Soup and bread go so well together. Here are a few suggestions you might like…

Parmesan Cracked Pepper Bread

Cheese and Spinach Muffins

Homemade Potato Bread

And, some additional ideas you might like to try….

Tomato Bisque from Medieval Times

Old Fashioned Scalloped Tomatoes

Italian Sausage Tortellini Soup

Unstuffed Cabbage Soup

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Comments

Carole says
May 19, 2017 at 3:32 am
Hi Lorraine, this would fit perfectly in Food on Friday under the tomato theme. Hope you bring it on over. Cheers from Carole's Chatter
Ann Thompson says
May 16, 2017 at 10:10 pm
Its been a long time since I've had tomato soup. This looks really good. I'll have to try this