a simple real food recipe :: tomato soup

There is just something about a warm bowl of tomato soup on a chilly afternoon 🙂 It is one of our favorites, and I always try to keep some stocked in the freezer for quick pull out lunches.

Canned tomato soup has NOTHING on homemade! Not only does homemade taste much fresher and have way more flavor, but you are skipping out on MSG and other preservatives, possible HFCS, and for sure skipping out on BPA leaching into your soup from the can.

I usually batch up this soup once a month or so.  Last week I was blessed to receive a load of my sister in law’s last summer tomatoes from her garden – so we ate some fresh, and made the rest into soup 🙂

Here’s what you’ll need:

• 4 TB friendly fat to cook in (butter, coconut oil, tallow, lard)
• 2  medium onions, sliced
• 2 large carrots, coarsely chopped
• 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 quart chicken stock (homemade if possible to avoid MSG and BPA).
• 2 TB organic tomato paste
• 2 TB basil
• 5 large tomatoes (or 6-7 small/medium), seeded and juices scooped out
• Sea salt/pepper to taste
• 2 tsp raw honey
• 1 cup cream or milk (raw if possible, or non homogenized, low pasturized, never ULP) (if you are dairy free you can try coconut milk or just go without – it is delicious without the dairy as well.)

1. Sauté the onions and carrots in the friendly fat for about 10 minutes. Add a pinch of salt while they cook to bring the juices out and let them sweeten up and cook.
2. Add the garlic and cook a minute.
3. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, basil, and stock, and bring to a boil.
4. Reduce to a simmer about 25 minutes.
5. Take the soup off the heat, and add the raw honey to balance out the acid of the tomatoes, and the cream or milk for creaminess.
6. Puree with a handheld blender (I couldn’t live without mine! I use it for everything!) or in a regular blender.

Kitchen Tips:

1. Packs up great in a warm thermos for lunch at school or work!
2. This is a GREAT batch up recipe for the freezer!
3. You can use fresh basil if you wish!
4. If you are in the midst of winter and can’t find good fresh tomatoes, try using 2- 32oz cans of whole organic tomatoes, drained and seeded. Tomatoes are part of the dirty dozen so I would really stick to organic.
5. Don’t forget the kids! I like serving it to the girls in a straw cup so it isn’t as messy 😉 Tomatoes are a bit acidy so I didn’t start them trying it out as babies until they were over a year old – never had a problem with them digesting the tomatoes! They loved it!
6. Despite the carrot ingredient it does not taste like carrots if you aren’t a carrot fan. It is in there for the sweetness and color!

YOUR TURN!

Is tomato soup a favorite at your house? Let me know if you try this one and how you like it!

This post was shared at Real Food Forager’s Fat Tuesday,  Real Food Freaks Freaky Friday, Too Many Jars At My Kitchen’s Fill Those Jars Friday, and Butter Believer’s Sunday School!