Tomato Soup with Lemon and Herbes de Provence
One cold winter day in 2007 I came home from work late morning, displaying all the symptoms of approaching upper respiratory ailment. I intended to make chicken soup and take a nap.
I didn't make chicken soup at all. Instead I made a very tomato-y soup with a dash of orange rind and lots of thyme. It was inspired by a similar recipe at Epicurious, adapted to my taste buds and to the ingredients I had on hand.
Tomato Soup
- 4 cups chicken, turkey or vegetable stock
- 1 can Italian-style diced tomatoes
- 1 large celery rib, finely chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 3 strips of fresh orange zest, minced
- 2 teaspoons fresh thyme
- dash red pepper flakes
- one bay leaf
- 3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 3 Tablespoons tomato paste
- additional water as needed
- 1 tablespoon parsley
- dash or two herbes de Provence to taste
Options: Rice, chicken, a dash of fennel seeds. The original recipe calls for saffron, but I had none.
Cook onions, celery, garlic, orange zest and pepper flakes in olive oil for about five minutes in a stock pot. Add soup stock, tomatoes, tomato paste and bay leaf. Bring to a low boil, then simmer uncovered. Taste frequently and add water as needed. You may need to add some sugar at this point. After about a 40 minutes, remove bay leaf and add parsley and herbes de Provence.
I also tossed in some leftover cherry tomatoes, chopping them to a paste first.
This soup tastes as though it would cure a cold. Really.
Comments
Love your lighting in your photos!
In the summer, I was taking all photos on the deck. It was a real pain to rush outside with something hot and then shoot it quickly before it got cold.
You might want to try the original recipe, Lu, which does not use a can of stewed tomatoes, but requires — more or less — that you make your own.
I would love to make homemade wheat rolls!