From DN Recipes by David Nagy · Food & Beverage

Heirloom Tomato Soup

Published

Heirloom Tomato Soup
Ingredients
  • 1 medium yellow onion, medium diced
  • ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided - you will use ¼ cup twice in the recipe
  • 1 bunch fresh basil
  • 7-9 sprigs of fresh thyme
  • 7-9 sprigs of fresh oregano or marjoram - These are both similar tasting herbs, so use which ever you can find.
  • ½ tablespoon coarse Celtic sea salt
  • 2 garlic cloves, microplaned - see how to microplane garlic in the above post
  • 5 overripe heirloom tomatoes, cored and cut into large chunks, you can also use 1 extra large, 2 medium and 4 small, or a combination or different sizes, see my above video in the post which explains a bit more.
  • 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar, plus more to taste - I usually add about 1¼ teaspoons, or sometimes a bit more, as it really adds such great flavor to the soup
Directions
  1. Wash your herbs, chop up your onion, peel your garlic and core your tomatoes. Not sure how to core a tomato? Check out the step-by-step photos in my above post.
  2. Chop the tomatoes into large chunks. These do not have to be uniform in size, as they will break down and be pureed in the blender.
  3. Create an herb bunch. Take the basil bunch, sprigs of thyme and oregano or marjoram, and tie them up tightly together with some kitchen twine.
  4. To microplane garlic, all you need to do is get a cheese or small grater and rub the peeled garlic against it to grate it.
  5. Heat 1/4 cup olive oil, 1/2 tablespoon Celtic sea salt, diced onion and herb bunch in a dutch oven, or soup pot over medium low heat, until the onion is soft, tender and translucent, but not browned. You're basically sweating the onion here.
  6. Stir in the garlic and heat for about 30 seconds, and then add in the tomatoes. Keep the herb bunch in, you will take it out before you puree the soup.
  7. Bring soup to a gentle simmer (uncovered) and cook for about 10-15 minutes, or until the tomatoes are broken down. Make sure to occasionally stir the tomatoes.
  8. Once the tomatoes have broken down, be sure to remove the herb bunch and compost them.
  9. Stir in the 1-teaspoon of balsamic vinegar and the ¼ cup of olive oil.
  10. Turn off the heat.
  11. Puree the soup either using a hand held immersion blender, or a regular blender. If you're using a blender, return the soup to the pot after your puree it. I always use my blender and then wipe down the pot before returning the soup to the pot, that way there are no chunks of onion or tomatoes in there.
  12. Taste the soup and add a splash more balsamic, or salt to taste. I always add a bit more salt and balsamic, especially if the tomatoes are not super ripe. Keep warm until ready to serve.