weeknight tomato soup

While this is not the Smitten Kitchen’s only tomato soup — there’s one withroasted summer tomatoes capped with an open-faced grilled cheese sandwichin the archives, and further back, aclassic cream of tomato soupadapted from Cook’s Illustrated — neither are this: a seasonless tomato soup I can make on any rainy day, along with the nonnegotaible grilled cheese sandwiches, in under an hour. Both of the archived recipes have their charms; the first is great when tomatoes are at their peak. The second is excellent but fussy, more ideal for when you’ve got the time or patience to show off. But this has eclipsed both in the rotation for the last couple winters, and a few things make it perfect for us: –Yes, grocery store tomatoes:If you, like me, buy cherry or grape tomatoes far more often than you use them up, this soup is for you. No, I don’t mean glorious, peak-season cherry tomatoes from a garden or farm stand on a hot summer day; save those for snacking or a salad. I truly mean even the highly mediocre ones you might find on sale at a chain store in the dead of winter. This soup makes the argument that even bland, off-season cherry and grape tomatoes will provide more flavor and nuance than canned tomatoes and the proof will be in the bowl. And sweetness! Cream of tomato soup recipes add a little sugar, but I find that storebought grape tomatoes provide enough without it. –A simple base:Everything else is about simply layering in flavor — onions cooked in butter until sweet and lightly browned at the edges, garlic, pepper flakes to taste, a splash of sherry if that’s your thing, tomato paste, and any kind of broth you want to use, vegetable or chicken. It simmers for 15 minutes (this is when you make the grilled cheese sandwiches) and blends smooth. –Cream-optional:This was intended to be a cream of tomato soup, and you can, if you’d like, add cream at the end to taste. But the texture is so velvety and smooth from the tomato and sweet onions, you might find you don’t need or want it at all. –Riffable:This isn’t just my new weeknight tomato soup, it’s a foundation I’ve used for a lot of tweaked leftovers. Sometimes, I’ll add cooked lentils (Trader Joe’sremain my fridge staple), but even some tortellini, and a handful of spinach wilted in, plus a little parmesan on top work nicely too. And it works as well with the French onion soup-style grilled cheese on top as theroasted tomato soupdoes. Podcast!My new podcast with J. Kenji Lopez-Alt,The Recipe with Kenji and Deb, launched this past week and our first episode is all about Stovetop Mac-and-Cheese! You can listen to it anywhere you get your podcasts and I’ve set up a newpodcast tab/page where you can keep up on it here, too. We will have new episodes every two Mondays and this tomato soup will feature prominently in Episode 4! We’ve been working on this behind the scenes for the last year — I hope you enjoy listening along. 6 months ago:Raspberry Streusel Muffins1 year ago:Easy Freezer Waffles2 years ago:Castle Breakfast3 year ago:Rigatoni alla Vodka4 year ago:Perfect Vegetable Lasagna5 year ago:Bodega-Style Egg and Cheese SandwichandChocolate Puddle Cakes6 years ago:Slow-Roasted Sweet PotatoesandKorean-Braised Short Ribs7 years ago:Small-Batch Tiramisu8 years ago:Miso Black Sesame Caramel CornandHot and Sour Soup9 years ago:Oven-Braised Beef with Tomatoes and GarlicandPecan Sticky Buns10 years ago:Chocolate Hazelnut Linzer HeartsandChocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake11 years ago:Italian Stuffed Cabbage12 years ago:Lasagna Bolognese13 years ago:Blood Orange Olive Oil Cake14 years ago:Best Cocoa BrowniesandChana Masala15 years ago:Chocolate Whiskey and Beer CupcakesandCrispy Black Bean Tacos with Feta and Slaw16 years ago:Seven-Yolk Pasta DoughandBest Chocolate Pudding17 years ago:For Beaming, Bewitching Breads