The tomato is, without a doubt, one of the most popular fruits in the world (yes, the tomato is a fruit from a scientific point of view) and an essential in our kitchens and tables. In salads, spread on toast, in stir-fries or in tomato sauces that cannot be missing in pasta, pizza or rice dishes. But have you ever tried tomato soup?
Gazpacho is perhaps the best known tomato soup in Spain, but here I am referring to tomato soup in which the tomato is cooked. A soup to eat hot, a perfect comfort dish to make at the end of summerwhen tomatoes are in abundance and the weather begins to cool, or to brighten the coldest monthsin which we can prepare it with canned tomatoes, in memory of summer.
Tomato soup is also a very simple dish, An easy-to-make recipe that only requires basic pantry ingredientssuch as onion, garlic, olive oil and tomatoes. Of course, we can make variations of this basic tomato soup recipe and dare to add less common ingredients, which will give it a different touch.
In this video we tell you how to make the perfect gazpacho, the cold tomato soup par excellence:
How to make tomato soup: basic recipe and variants
To make tomato soup you can use very ripe fresh tomatoes or, if not in season, canned tomatoes.
In addition to the basic ingredients that we have mentioned before – onion, garlic and oil –, we can add other vegetablessuch as celery, carrot, pumpkin or pepper, and add spices such as cumin, ginger, curry or fresh herbs.
To make the soup thickerwe can add potatoes along with the tomatoes.
And if we want a creamy soupwe can grind the vegetables together with white beans, tofu, cashews, nut creams or coconut milk or other vegetable drink.
The soup can be served as is as a first course or accompanied by bread or potato croutons, crispy chickpeas, grated cheese, toast or tofu cubes. There are versions for all tastes.
Let’s now move on to the tomato soup recipes. Here you will find a recipe for traditional tomato soup along with two variants: an extra creamy tomato soup and a tomato and roasted pepper soup.
Traditional tomato soup
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Traditional tomato soup
This is the basic tomato soup recipe that everyone will fall in love with. To make it more filling, we can add cooked pasta or white beans or chickpeas or bread croutons, and to give it a gourmet touch, we can serve it with pesto or grated cheese.
INGREDIENTS FOR 4-6 PEOPLE
- 1 kg of very ripe tomatoes
- 1 onion
- 2 cloves of garlic
- half a stick of celery
- 1/2 green pepper
- 500-750 ml of water or vegetable broth
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 teaspoon whole sugar or honey (optional)
- pepper
- salt
PREPARATION (20′ + 35′ cooking time):
- First you have to peel the tomatoes. The easiest way is to fill a large pot with water and bring it to a boil. Wash the tomatoes well and make two cross-shaped cuts in each one. Put the tomatoes in the pot with boiling water and cook for 1 minute. Strain and remove the skin. This way it will be removed easily. Then cut the tomatoes into pieces.
- Peel and chop the onion and garlic and chop the celery.
- In a pot, heat the oil and sauté the onion, garlic, celery and pepper with a little salt for about 10 minutes.
- Add the tomatoes, salt, pepper, fine herbs and half a liter of water and bay leaf and cook for about 25 minutes. Remove the bay leaf.
- Blend the soup with the help of a hand blender or in a blender. Taste the flavor and add more salt. If it is too acidic, you can sweeten it with a little brown sugar or honey. If necessary, add more water.
- Serve with fresh basil.
Creamy tomato soup made with cashew cream
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Creamy tomato soup
This recipe is a deluxe version of the famous tomato soup. If we need a comforting dish, during rainy nights or the colder months, this soup will not disappoint us. To give it the creaminess, we add raw cashews orif we want a version without nuts, we can use cooked white beans.
INGREDIENTS FOR 4-6 PEOPLE
- 800 g fresh tomatoes or peeled canned tomatoes
- 500-750 ml of water or vegetable broth
- 1 onion
- 2 cloves of garlic
- half a cup of soaked cashews or white beans
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- half a teaspoon of Italian herbs
- black pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt
PREPARATION (15′ + 35′ cooking time):
- Start by preparing the vegetables. Peel and chop the onion and garlic. If you are using fresh tomatoes, peel them. The easiest thing is to boil a large pot of water and make a cross-shaped cut in all the tomatoes. Add to the pot and boil for 1 minute. Rinse with cold water and peel. Then cut into pieces.
- Once the vegetables are prepared, make the soup. In a pot, heat 2 tablespoons of oil. Add the onion and garlic and sauté for about 10 minutes with a pinch of salt.
- Add the tomatoes, cashews or beans and the water or vegetable broth. If you are going to use canned tomatoes, add the liquid too. Add the herbs, salt, nutritional yeast and cook for about 20 minutes.
- Transfer to the blender or blend with the help of a blender. If necessary, add more water or broth. Check the taste and serve with croutons and fresh basil.
Roasted Tomato and Pepper Soup
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Tomato and roasted pepper soup
A variant of the famous tomato soup, but with the touch of roasted pepper. For a heartier dinner, serve with toasted bread gratin with cheese.
INGREDIENTS FOR 4-6 PEOPLE
- 8 medium tomatoes
- 3 red peppers
- 2 onions
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 750 ml – 1 liter of vegetable broth or water
- fresh parsley to serve
- a pinch of cumin
- black pepper
- salt
PREPARATION (10 + 50′ cooking time):
- Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.
- Prepare the vegetables. Peel the onions and cut into quarters. Peel the garlic. Wash the tomatoes and cut into pieces. Remove the seeds from the peppers and cut into pieces.
- Place all the vegetables on a large baking sheet. Season with salt, drizzle with oil and bake for about 45 minutes.
- Once the vegetables are ready, place them in a pot along with the broth, salt, cumin and paprika and cook for about 5 minutes. Blend with the help of a hand blender. If necessary, add more water.
- Serve with fresh chopped parsley