This is not your typical supermarket tomato, which may be redder, less expensive but tasteless... HARRY J. KLEE, from the University of Florida’s Institute of Plant Innovation, is trying to bridge the gap and make common supermarket tomatoes more tasty for the average consumer, yet easy and financially viable for the producer to get to market. But until then, you might find something in the States like Goldmans’ Italian American tomato, which aren’t perfectly round and firm to use in this following recipe.
Our late blossoming summer has allowed us a wonderful fall "CASALINGA" ITALIAN TOMATO SOUP RECIPE and some TURNTABLE TUNES.
Fresh & Whole Ingredients:
Herbs / Spices
Bay Leaf (which historically were believed to symbolize wisdom & a great source of vitamins A&C).
Several cloves of fresh garlic (we used an heirloom variety called Lorz)
Red Chile Pepper (if you want to spice it up)
Two sprigs of Rosemary
Vegetables
Whole Onion finely chopped
Whole Carrot, shredded then finely chopped
15 tomatoes with skins peeled
Chop
Chop up your herbs and spices then add your shredded carrots and chopped onions to the mix. Continue to chop ingredients together until everything is diced up to the size of large salt crystals. We use a mezzaluna (meaning half-moon), which is the heart of our kitchen.
Heat
Heat-up your soup pot with plenty of extra virgin olive oil. Important to make sure your pot is heated up well. Add your whole cloves and let simmer for several seconds, give them a turn and then pull them out of the oil. It’s a clever way to add flavor to your oil in particular if your style of garlic, like ours, is pungent and strong.
Add
First add herbs and spices to your heated pot until they’re a nice golden color.
Then add your tomatoes, they will have already been cut in half and de-seeded (if you miss a few seeds, no problem). At that point, you will crush the tomatoes by hand into the hot pot. Keep in mind the tomato should be easy to squeeze as it’s very “fleshy", or if you prefer cut it up.
Simmer
Put a lid on it and bring to a simmer. Let it cook for 45 minutes.
NB* Since the tomatoes should be very juicy/meaty, you won’t have to add any water or broth to the mix. If this isn’t the case, you’ll likely add water or broth, but in moderation. The longer you let the mixture sit, the thicker in consistency the soup will become. This all depends on how thick you like your soup.
OPTIONAL
After about a half an hour of cooking at a medium/high simmer add a slurry of whisked water and flour, but only if water was not added initially.
If water was added initially, because tomatoes were less meaty, add a spoon or two of flour (or cornstarch or very well blended whole foods) for added thickness. And VOILA! Buon-Appetito!
