Sunny Provencal Tomato Soup Recipes

PROVENCE TOMATO SOUP

Steps:

• Heat olive oil in pot on medium heat and clarify the onions.
• Put in the rest of ingredients, stir and bring to a boil.
• Reduce the heat and cook for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Remove parmesan rind and bay leaf.
• Add salt and pepper to taste and serve.

PROVENCAL TOMATO SOUP WITH RICE

Steps:

• Cut a shallow X in bottom of each tomato with a sharp paring knife. Blanch tomatoes in batches of 2 or 3 in a 5- to 6-quart pot of boiling water 10 seconds, transferring with a slotted spoon to a bowl of ice and cold water to stop cooking.
• Peel tomatoes, then halve crosswise. Squeeze halves gently, cut sides down, over a sieve set over a bowl to extract seeds and juices, then press on seeds and discard them. Reserve juice and tomatoes.
• Cook onions, carrot, celery, garlic, zest, thyme, red-pepper flakes, fennel seeds, and bay leaf in oil in a 2 1/2- to 3-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are softened, about 5 minutes.
• Add tomatoes with reserved juice, tomato paste, water, chicken broth, salt, pepper, saffron, and 1 teaspoon sugar, then simmer, uncovered, stirring and breaking up tomatoes with a spoon occasionally, 20 minutes. Stir in rice and simmer, uncovered, until rice is tender, 10 to 20 minutes. Discard bay leaf and stir in parsley, basil, and sugar and salt to taste.

SUNNY'S SIMPLE ROASTED TOMATO SOUP WITH BROILED CHEESE TOAST

Steps:

• For the soup: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with nonstick aluminum foil.
• Drizzle some olive oil in a zig-zag motion on the foil. Add the thyme and garlic and season the baking sheet with salt and pepper. Place the tomatoes, bell peppers and jalapeno on the baking sheet sliced-side down, covering the garlic cloves and thyme as you go along. Pour over the onions, drizzle the top of everything with olive oil and season again with a pinch of salt and a few grinds of pepper. Roast until the onions are golden and slightly charred, about 40 minutes.
• Transfer everything from the baking sheet to a blender in batches and pulse until smooth. Pour into a pot and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat, stirring the entire time. Add enough vegetable stock to achieve the desired consistency; you may not use it all. Keep warm on low.
• For the toast: Preheat the broiler on high.
• Put a cooling rack on top of a baking sheet and arrange the bread on the rack. Top each piece of bread with a slice of cheese and place under the broiler. WATCH while they cook: the cheese will melt and bubble, then the corners will begin to blacken--pull them out then! This takes less than a minute. Serve aside or atop a bowl of soup.

PROVENCAL SOUP

Steps:

• In a saucepan, heat oil and melt butter. Brown garlic and onion 4 minutes. Add salt and pepper. Add red bell pepper and zucchini, and let cook 4 minutes. Deglaze with the white wine.
• Add tomatoes and vegetable stock. Heat and let reduce, uncovered, 5 to 7 minutes. Add olives and basil. Stir delicately and heat a little bit more.
• Serve with garlic croutons.