Here’s what I said about this soup back in 2011:
This recipe is deceptive in that it seems like it would be an easy recipe to make, but it’s actually a bit of a pain in the butt.
Step two in the directions is a lot more difficult than the directions suggests. I found it extremely difficult to push the blended tomato through the strainer. At some point I just gave up! Perhaps this means you should puree the crap out of it before straining the soup back into the pot.
At first glance the soup appears runny. Fear not. The noodles will soak up the soup. After about five minutes, the dish turned into something more along the lines of adult Spaghetti-O’s. (Admittedly, I put two to three times the amount of noodles into the dish than the recipe calls for. I seem to have a problem with this. See my Spicy Peanut Soup with Chicken and Noodles soup blog.)
Sprinkle with plenty of salt, pepper, and parmesan cheese and you’ll think this soup is delicious. Especially if you’re a huge fan of tomato soup.
Not sure what I did differently in 2021, other than try to make a much larger batch, but I could not get my veggies to come out pulpy. Some of my tomatoes were still entirely whole despite the fact that I ended up cooking them for a fairly long time on the stovetop. I ended up kind of crushing them with a wooden spoon.
When it got to the part where I was supposed to strain the mixture I didn’t bother because I knew it didn’t work the last time I tried. So my end result turned out kind of pulpy and less smooth.
I definitely understood why I referred to this dish as adult spaghetti-i-o’s last time. While I didn’t think I put an abnormal amount of noodles into the dish, my leftovers felt almost like I was eating pasta with marinara sauce. I think the texture of this soup could definitely be refined by straining it. Apparently I’m far too lazy!
ingredients.
- 1 T. olive oil
- 1 lb 11 oz plum tomatoes
- 1 onion, cut into fourths
- 5 garlic cloves, sliced thinly
- 1 celery stalk, chopped
- 2 c. chicken stock
- 2 oz dried soup pasta (short pasta such as ditalini, pastina, fideo, small shells, etc.)
- salt and pepper to tasted
- fresh grated parmesan cheese, for garnish
directions.
- Pour the olive oil into a large, heavy-bottom pan and add the tomatoes, onion, garlic and celery. Cover and cook over low heat for 45 minutes, occasionally shaking the pan gently, until the mixture is pulpy.
- Transfer the mixture to a food processor or blender and process to a smooth puree. Push the puree through a strainer into a clean pan. (Or just rinse the pot you were using.)
- Add the stock and bring to a boil. Add the pasta, bring back to a boil and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, until the pasta is tender but still firm to the bite. Season with salt and pepper. Ladle into warm bowls, sprinkle with freshly grated parmesan cheese and serve immediately.
Recipe rating:
Food Snob 