Spicy Cream of Tomato Soup

I actually never ate tomato soup until I was 15.  While volunteering at a summer camp we had tomato soup and grilled cheese.  I was concerned but for the most part old Patsy, the cook, had never let us down.   I quickly realized that this was a match made in heaven.  Then I soon realized that if I was warming up a can Campbell’s Tomato soup, that if I added milk it tasted much better.  Then I was exposed to La Madeline’s Tomato Basil Soup and realized just how good tomato soup could be.

A few years ago while preparing a batch of chili for a chili cook off, I came to an interesting realization.  The base I made for my chili was simply a thick and hearty tomato soup made with alpaca stock.  With a few substitutions I could make this into a very good tomato soup.  Then I forgot about it until this past Lent.

Reada still follows the fish on Fridays during Lent.  In Lima, this was easily achieved by going to get sushi every Friday night at Edo (which was within walking distance of our home).  Here there is one sushi bar that is about buffet quality at gourmet prices, so needless to say that wasn’t going to work.  This lent I had to get creative for non-meat dishes before we stocked up on the frozen corvina filets. Reada had some instant tomato soup packets and suggested that I make those for our dinner with grilled cheese.  Being a  little bit of a food snob, I decided that I needed to make some myself.

Spicy Tomato Soup

2 – 12 oz cans whole roma tomatos or 10 roma tomatoes peeled and seeded and quartered

1whole head of garlic (peeled a separated into individual cloves)

Olive oil

2 carrots (peeled and chopped)

1 bell pepper (seeded and chopped)

2 jalapeno peppers (you can deseed the pepper for a less spicy soup)

1 large yellow onion (chopped)

4 cups chicken or vegetable broth

1 – 8 oz. can of tomato sauce

2 teaspoons Adobe seasoning

¼  cup heavy cream

¾ cup milk

Salt and Pepper to taste

Process:

Preheat oven to 400°

Toss tomatoes and garlic in olive oil and place in roasting pan.  Roast for about 20 minutes in the oven until the tomatoes begin to caramelize.

While tomatoes and garlic are roasting, heat a little olive oil to a deep pot.  Once the pot is hot sauté the onions until they begin to caramelize.  Then add the rest of the vegetables and sauté for a few minutes  

Add the fresh roasted tomatoes, roasted garlic, the broth, tomato sauce, and the Adobo seasoning.  Bring the pot to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes or until the carrots are soft.

Remove the pot from the heat.   Using an immersion blender*, puree the soup until it is nice and smooth.

*you can use a regular blender, but be careful with hot soup in a covered blender.  You could end up with scalding hot soup all over yourself and your kitchen

Add the cream and milk, this will lighten the color of the soup and will provide a bit of richness.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with French bread, a good ‘ol grilled cheese sandwich and your favorite hot sauce.

Enjoy!