Thursday

Cream of Vine Ripened Tomato Soup

I feel fortunate for having good neighbors, and some other 
generous friends who shared their produce bounty 
with us this year, gifts from their gardens are such a treat!
Is there anything like a homegrown tomato fresh from the vine? 
So tasty!
When the tomato harvest begins to get ahead of what 
you can eat fresh, you might like to try this soup. 

It's one I adapted from Ina Garten, The Barefoot Contessa 
and it's very good!

I adjusted just a few things from the original recipe 
and switched out the garnishes. 
 
Ina suggested croutons, and some julienned fresh basil leaves.
I really like to try different garnishes on soups, particularly creamy or pureed soups = those with little or no texture... 
 
I can't help it, I get bored eating spoonful after spoonful 
of the same thing and feel the need to break the monotony, 
no matter how good the soup tastes garnishes are a treat!





I have served it with baby arugula leaves and crisp crumbled 
bacon (I love the way the arugula adds a nice contrast to 
the creamy soup.)


 I've also served this soup with thin, grilled/toasted slices from a baguette, 
smeared with Spinach-Arugula-Basil Pesto:

  


For the pesto I just whirred the leaves in a small 
food processor with some good olive oil, a small garlic clove 
and added coarse salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. 

The proportions are up to you; I used mostly spinach, 
with just a little arugula, and a couple of leaves of fresh basil. 
You could add grated Parmesan, pine nuts, walnuts or 
almonds to the pesto ~ but I just kept it simple. 
It was very good and clean tasting! :)


If you would like a printable copy of my version of Ina's recipe, you'll find it on my recipe blog. Click Here.


Thanks for stopping by today!

6 comments:

  1. C'est beau Mary..I made one of your cream of tomato soups..not this one..Thank you!

    Made your "new" caprese this week..So good!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hello Mme. Magical! Thank you for stopping by to leave such a nice message.

    Ooh, I love all of your posts, but today's was extra special. Congratulations on being published once again, and your gorgeous photos of your time in France. xo

    ReplyDelete
  3. What beautiful soups. Soups are so hard to photograph and get just right.

    Lucky you with a neighbor who shares homegrown tomatoes.
    Sam

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Sam, thank you for your sweet comments!

    Wow, your dressed-up tomato sandwiches were beautiful (mouth watering!!) Nice job!

    Thank you for stopping by and taking the time to leave such a nice comment. xo

    ReplyDelete
  5. Scrolling through your page of lovely photos and recipes, this one made me stop in my tracks! I don't know if I'll have enough of my own tomatoes to make this soup but a trip to the farmers' market will remedy that. It looks beautifully delicious! I love the shot of the tomatoes on the bench.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi Susan, Thank you! If you have a chance to try it, I hope you like it. All the best to you!

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for your comments, friends ~ they make my day!

A Sampling of my food . . .

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