Rustic Tomato Soup

We're pretty much snowed in on the East Coast. The District of Columbia got hammered last night, and we had about a foot plus of snow at the house this morning when we woke up. It's a perfect day for tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches--after shoveling out the cars and the walk.

Out in the back yard. 

Here's what you need:

About one and one half pounds of fresh tomatoes or at least a 28oz can of chopped tomatoes

Two medium onions, thinly sliced
Basil

Stock (chicken or vegetable) or water

Salt and pepper

Rice

Olive oil

Heat a tablespoon of oil and a tablespoon of butter in the bottom of your soup pot. Add the onions and let them cook until they are very soft, about five minutes. Don't overcook.

While that's happening, if you're using whole tomatoes, you'll have to prepare them: score the bottoms with an X, drop each tomato into boiling water for about 15 seconds and remove promptly. The skins will just pull away. 

Then, chop the tomatoes roughly and add them to the soup pot with the onions, some chopped basil, salt and pepper--a little garlic can't hurt here either. 

Preparing the tomato and basil.

Let all of this cook for about ten minutes and prepare some chopped rice. (If you haven't done this before, it's pretty simple: put a couple ounces of rice into a dry pan over medium high heat, stirring regularly until the rice begins to brown a bit. Then either crush it with a mortar in a pestle or run it through the small food processor.

Chopped Rice

Once the tomatoes have cooked down a bit, add a pint of stock or water. I used chicken stock because it was handy. 

Just before I added the stock.

Stir well for a couple minutes, then add the chopped rice. Bring this all to a boil--stirring pretty regularly--reduce and let simmer for 15 minutes. It's ready to serve in a primitive or rustic fashion right now. You might want to give it a spin with the vertical blender to make it smooth. Some people add a bit of cream. 

Grilled cheese sandwiches (sharp NY cheddar 

on sourdough), and rustic tomato soup. I'm happy. 

A foot of snow in the back yard. Harry's happy.