Awesome On The Vine Creamy Tomato Soup

By Andy Anderson !
@ThePretentiousWichitaChef

Tomato soup falls into the category of comfort foods. It’s one of those things that you crave when the nights get longer and the days get cooler. I played with this recipe for a couple of years until I got what I wanted. It’s tasty, it’s satisfying, and it’s got a little kick that will warm you up from your head to your toes.

And one of the secrets to it's great flavor is using the tomato vine, in the broth.

Make no mistake, this is not your typical, open-a-can-and-serve kind of tomato soup; it takes a bit of time, but it’s well worth it.

So, you ready… Let’s get into the kitchen.

Rating:

★★★★★ 2 votes

Comments:

28 Comments

Serves:

Prep:

30 Min

Cook:

1 Hr 20 Min

Method:

Stove Top

Ingredients

4 medium: carrots, rough chop
2 medium: yellow onions, rough chop
1 medium: leek, rough chop
4 lb: fresh tomatoes on the vine, quartered, vine reserved
6 sprig(s): fresh thyme
1 Tbsp: salt, kosher variety, or to taste
1 tsp: black pepper, or to taste
1 tsp: dried basil
1 tsp: dried oregano
2 Tbsp: olive oil, extra virgin
8 c: filtered water
6 oz: tomato paste
1/4 c: crème fraîche, and extra for serving
1/4 c: heavy cream
1 pinch: cayenne pepper, or more to taste

Step-By-Step

1Gather your ingredients.

2Preheat the oven to 450f/232c

3Roughly chop the carrots, onions, and the leek, and then add them to the bowl of a food processor fitted with an S-blade.

4Pulse the veggies until roughly ground, several 1-second pulses.

5Add the ground vegetables to a large ovenproof skillet, or a rimmed baking sheet,

6Quarter the tomatoes.

7Place the quartered tomatoes on a rimmed baking sheet, cut side up.

8Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and olive oil.

9Add the veggies and tomatoes to the preheated oven, and bake for about 50 minutes,

10Chef’s Tip: The veggies should be browned on top, and the tomatoes should be beginning to collapse.

11Chef’s Note: The veggies used to create the broth for this soup is called a mirepoix.

12Add the reserved tomato vine, basil, oregano, and thyme sprigs to a large soup pot.

13Chef’s Tip: If you have a good sized, heavy bottomed pot, like enameled cast iron, that would be excellent.

14Add the 8 cups filtered water to the pot.

15Remove the pans from the oven and add the roasted vegetables into the pot

16Set the pan aside, but do not clean out.

17Bring the contents of the pot to a boil, and then reduce to a simmer.

18Place the pan used to roast the veggies over medium high heat, and then add the tomato paste.

19Cook until the tomato paste begins to darken, and then add about 3 or 4 tablespoons of water.

20Take a wooden spoon, and use it to scrape up the brown bits of veggies still adhering to the bottom of the pan. Scrape until they are all incorporated into the tomato paste.

21Add the tomato paste mixture to the pot, and continue to simmer for a total simmering time of about 50 minutes.

22Chef’s Tip: If your simmer is too high, you will lose a lot of your liquid. If your simmer is right, you should lose no more than 1 to 1.5 cups of liquid to evaporation.

23Remove from the heat, and allow the broth to stand for about 10 minutes.

24Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve, and discard the solids.

25After wiping out the pot, return the strained broth to the pot.

26Add the tomatoes, and any accumulated liquids into the pot with the broth.

27Bring to a boil over high heat, and then reduce to a simmer.

28Continue to simmer for about 30 minutes.

29Remove the pot from the heat and allow the mixture to rest for about 10 minutes.

30Using a food processer fitted with an S-blade, or an immersion blender, purée the soup.

31If using a food processer, return the soup to the pot, and add the heavy cream, and crème fraîche.

32Chef’s Note: If you are using an immersion blender, there’s no need to return the soup to the pot, because it’s already in the pot.

33After adding the dairy, warm the soup, but do not bring it to a simmer or boil.

34Add additional salt, pepper, and cayenne, to taste.

35Chef’s Tip: Good chefs always taste and season their food. Taste and season… taste and season… With all this tasting going on, it’s no wonder that there are not a lot of skinny chefs.