Homemade Tomato Soup

One thing is for sure about September tomatoes -- they aren't August tomatoes.  As the garden starts to wind down, I have a crop of small and somewhat less juicy tomatoes that I nonetheless want to enjoy.

What I haven't enjoyed for a while is a bowl of tomato soup.  Concerns about BPA in the linings of the cans have caused me to avoid my normal brand, and I haven't yet found a replacement I love.  So, what better to do than to make soup with these last tomatoes.

I started with inspiration from AllRecipes.com  I love recipe sites like this because I browse several recipes in the category I want to make to learn the typical proportions, then I change the flavor profile to fit what I want to eat.  In this case, I learned the proportions of stock to tomatoes, then figured out spicing on my own.

Homemade Tomato Soup
2 c. stock (homemade if you have it)
4 c. tomatoes, cut into quarters-ish (garden tomatoes)
1 t. dried basil (hopefully from the garden)
1 small onion, quartered (again, hopefully from the garden)
a few grinds of salt and pepper
1-3 T flour

Simmer tomatoes, onion, and spices in stock until the tomatoes start to get mushy and the skins peel back -- kind of like you would expect if you were making tomato juice or sauce.  Pass the entire soup through a food mill to remove tomato skins and seeds and onion pieces.  Return to pot and cook on low, adding flour slowly until the soup thickens slightly.

The Analysis

Fast:  I would say I made a batch of this in about 30 minutes total, so homemade still possible on a busy night.

Cheap:  Everything but the flour and the salt and pepper came from my garden or my pantry supply (homemade stock), so I think my cost for two big servings of soup came in at under 15 cents total!

Good:  Soooo much better than the stuff from a can!  I hope I have enough tomatoes to do this at least one more time this year.