It’s -9 C. It’s Windy. This is Soup.

Posted by Michael on Feb 15, 2011 in Recipes | 0 comments

I’ve never really subscribed to the notion of “comfort food” really.  I can get comfort in mid-winter from a plate of Japanese yakisoba as much as I can get it from a bowl of stew or a hefty casserole.

But today the weather is some kind of especially crappy.  It’s minus 9 Celsius -I know, not that cold – but the wind is howling like mad and making just stepping outside a gruelling thing to do.

Mother Nature, which has already dumped record amounts of snow in parts of New Brunswick, is doing her best to hammer our faces with biting wind.  Nice job.

I made this soup simply because it seemed like a sensible thing to do with the ingredients I had on hand a few days ago but is it ever great on a day like this.

This is a soup that benefits first and foremost from a great stock but just water will do just fine too.   The tomato base is what really carries everything together.  As for what to put in it, I like the classics of celery, carrot and green beans.   To fortify it, make some rice or pasta separately and add that to each bowl.   In fact, on the night I made this soup, I added some rice to each bowl, then a couple of days later, I boiled some “tubetti” pasta and added that to make my lunch today.  You can just make a big batch of the soup then modify it as you eat with any number of ingredients from lentils and beans to potato.

As you can see, this is a pretty simple one.  Combine the ingredients and cook.  My brain is frozen so this works for me.

Tomato vegetable soup

3 cups chicken stock, vegetable stock or water

1 28 oz can whole tomatoes, milled or pureed

2 stalks celery, diced

1 large carrot, peeled and diced

1/2 cup frozen green beans

1 tablespoon tomato paste

good pinch each of salt and pepper

good pinch of dried thyme and basil or other of your favourite herbs

Put the stock in a soup pot and bring to the boiling point, then reduce heat to medium.  Use a food mill to puree the canned tomatoes.   This removes the seeds and skins from the tomatoes but you can also just puree the tomatoes if you don’t have a food mill (get a food mill!).  Add the tomatoes, celery, carrot, green beans, tomato paste, salt, pepper, and dried herbs to the pot.  Reduce heat to medium low and just let simmer for a good hour to really soften the vegetables and blend the flavours.   Add more dried herbs if desired.  Serve in bowls with cooked rice, pasta, potato or just on its own.