April 28, 2020July 23, 2020

This delicious Tomato Soup recipe comes from Caren McSherry, owner of Gourmet Warehouse, who is a long-time supporter of Project CHEF.

The main ingredient in a Tomato Soup ought to be tomatoes, right? While that may be the case, you don’t necessarily need to use fresh tomatoes. In today’s recipe, we are using canned tomatoes. It is possible to make a delicious & nutritious meal from ingredients in your pantry. If using canned or packaged foods, it is important to read the list of ingredients. In Canada, by law, anything that comes in a package has to tell you what’s in it. The ingredients in our can of tomatoes are organic tomatoes & organic tomato juice.

Yield: About 4 – 5 servings
Preparation time: About 30 minutes
Cooking Time: About 40 minutes

Digging Around

Have a look around the house and read the list of ingredients on some packaged foods. Are there any ingredients you don’t recognize? Write them down in your Food Journal and try to find out what they are. Some ingredient names are so long that it’s hard to even pronounce them. We call those “blah blah blah” ingredients. Not all of these ingredients are bad for you, but we like to know what we are putting in our bodies.
Count how many ingredients are in each packaged food you found and record it in your Food Journal.

INGREDIENT LIST

1 small onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, grated with a micro-plane
½ cup (125mL) sweet potato, peeled and diced
2 Tbsp (30mL) olive oil
2 Tbsp (30mL) butter
1x 794g (28oz). can tomatoes (San Marzano, if possible)
2 cups (500mL) chicken or vegetable stock
2 sprigs fresh thyme
pinch salt and pepper

EQUIPMENT LIST

Micro-plane
Small sharp knife
Vegetable peeler
Strainer
Cutting board
2 small-sized bowls
2 medium-sized bowls
Wooden spoon
Large pot or stock pot with lid
Hand blender or blender
Ladle

METHOD

Cut the onion in half, from tip to the hairy root and peel it. Slice into 1 cm thick slices then cut each slice into 1 cm wide strips. Place in a medium-sized bowl.
Grate the garlic using a microplane. (If you don’t have this tool, crush the garlic with the bottom of a pot). Add to the onion bowl.
Peel the sweet potato and cut in half lengthwise (or have an adult do this for you). With the flat side down, cut into 1 cm wide slices then into cubes. Add to the onion bowl.
Place a large pot on the stove-top. Turn on the stove to a medium heat. Add the olive oil and butter and let heat up for a minute. Add the onion mixture of vegetables to the pot and cook, stirring frequently, until the onions are yellow and translucent and the sweet potato is soft (about 12 minutes). Cover pot but stir frequently.
Add the can of tomatoes, stock and thyme, pinch of salt and pepper. Mix together. Cover and simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring every few minutes. Remove from heat.
Remove the thyme sprigs and puree using a hand blender. Be very careful of hot soup spattering.

TASTY TIP

Some herbs to garnish for extra flavour and colour can make your meal extra special!

SKILLS

STEP-BY-STEP – TOMATO SOUP!

STEP 1
Gather the ingredients.

STEP 2
Cut the onion in half, from top to bottom. There’s nothing flat about an onion, so go slow and hang onto it with a sturdy claw hand. Teeter totter when you get stuck.

STEP 3
Peel the onion and cut it into pinky-wide strips then put into a bowl.

STEP 4
Peel the garlic.

STEP 5
Grate the garlic into the bowl of onions.

STEP 6
Peel the sweet potato using a vegetable peeler. Remember to peel away from you.

STEP 7
Cut the potato in half. Look for the flattest and steadiest side of the potato and cut into two halves. When you get stuck, use the teeter totter technique.

STEP 8
Cut into pinky-wide strips, then take each piece and cut it again until you have a dice. Add to the onion bowl.

STEP 9
Turn a pot onto medium heat and add olive oil & butter.

STEP 10
Once the pot butter has melted, add the bowl of veggies.

STEP 11
Stir constantly using a spatula and cook until the onions are starting to become yellow & translucent. Some of the onion bits may stick to the bottom like you see in this photo. That’s okay, in the next step our can of tomatoes will deglaze the pot, releasing all the stuck bits off the bottom.

STEP 12
Add the can of tomatoes.

STEP 13
Swirl a splash of water in the can to get every last bit of tomato out. We don’t waste a thing at Project CHEF.

STEP 14
Add the chicken stock (or vegetable stock).

STEP 15
Add the thyme.

STEP 16
Season with a two finger pinch of salt and couple of cracks of freshly ground pepper.

STEP 17
Now put the lid on and simmer for about 20 minutes. Remember to stir every few minutes. Use the shield technique to open the lid because the steam can burn!