Feature

A no-fail tomato soup recipe

Make tomato soup your savior this year

Remember January 1, when you stocked your pantry and printed out recipes and planned your meals and decided to cook responsibly, virtuously, and nobly this year?

This is what you're going to do.

Tonight, or any night this week, or for lunch, or for a late night snack, you will turn to your newly-stocked pantry. You will take out a can of tomatoes. You will turn on your stove. And with three ingredients — or more, if you so — you will have a bowl of steaming happiness in front of you: A bowl to cradle on your lap as you watch Downton Abbey, or to dunk a grilled cheese in, or to pair with a fabulous main course that you had meticulously planned out (because you obviously did that, right?).

Here's how to make tomato soup your savior this year.

How to make tomato soup without a recipe

1. Chop an allium or two; onions, garlic, shallots, and leeks are all fair game.

2. Heat a generous glug of olive oil in a big pot, and saute your alliums with a big pinch of salt until they're nice and soft. Add any spices you'd like; try black pepper, red pepper flakes, thyme, or cumin.

3. Add a big can of tomatoes and a cup of water or broth. (If the tomatoes are whole, break them up with your hands as you add them.) You can get roughly four servings out of a 28-ounce can, or, if you're like me, you can finish it yourself.

4. Let it all simmer down to your desired thickness; this will take around 20 to 30 minutes. Taste it — the tomatoes should've lost their raw wateriness by now. If not, keep on simmering until it tastes good. Season with salt and pepper. If you're adding cream or milk, swirl it in now.

5. Once the soup has cooled slightly, blend! You can use an immersion blender if you want to keep it chunky, or blend half and mix it back in. Serve it with toast or grilled cheese or a salad. January just got a whole lot better.

Photos by Mark Weinberg


More from Food52...


This article originally appeared on
Food52.com: How to make tomato soup without a recipe.

Recommended

6 marvelous homes with great kitchens
House
Feature

6 marvelous homes with great kitchens

The Check-In: How to plan a trip to Antarctica
Penguins on an iceberg
Feature

The Check-In: How to plan a trip to Antarctica

The Week contest: Seaweed invasion
sargassum seaweed.
Feature

The Week contest: Seaweed invasion

6 worthwhile homes in Iowa
House.
Feature

6 worthwhile homes in Iowa

Most Popular

5 toons about Trump's possible indictment
Political Cartoon
Feature

5 toons about Trump's possible indictment

Pope Francis updates sex abuse laws for Catholic Church
Pope Francis.
Francis Fights Back

Pope Francis updates sex abuse laws for Catholic Church

Florida principal forced to resign over Michelangelo's David display
The statue of 'David' by Michelangelo.
Controversy Over David

Florida principal forced to resign over Michelangelo's David display