Saturday, March 31, 2012

Fresh tomato + double-sided croûtons


  • Chop a red onion into little squares and fry gently in olive oil.
  • Chop your lovely tomato flesh into cubes and add to the onion. Mix, then leave them to it for five minutes on a lowish heat. 
  • Put a bit of hot vegetable stock in, then add salt, pepper and sugar (my sugar is often jealous of my salt, so I use a bit in savoury dishes and always post it in bold).
  • Leave the cooker on low so everything comes together gradually, and your tomato squares stay intactish.
  • I took a little soup out, whizzed it, then poured it back in. The rest of the soup looked pretty relieved.
  • Meanwhile, slice mozzarella, put it on some sturdy, seasoned bread (I used light rye) and cut into cubes. 
  • Heat olive oil, and place your cheesy pieces carefully into the pan, bread side down bien sûr. 
  • Serve the soup with the double-sided croûtons (some right side up, some upside down) and fresh basil.

What did it taste like? Miraculously, just as I wanted. Fresh and light and tomatoey. The cheese on the upside down croûtons had oozed kindly into the soup, their crispy, olive-oil bottoms unsoggied and delicious.

Tip: For the croûtons: there should be some sizzle as you lower the bread into the oil, but don't have the pan too hot; you want to leave them in there long enough to let the heat rise up and start melting the cheese, without burning their bready underbellies. 


5 comments:

  1. I have just tried this soup, and Bravo, it was fantastic. I would take my hat off to you if I was wearing one. As it is, I hope you will be satisfied with a promotion from Soup Dragon to Soup Saint.
    This is definitely the best tomato soup I have ever eaten. The flavours and textures of the tomato, onion and basil complemented each other beautifully ("You're tasty today Miss Tomato"; "Why thank you Basil, I was thinking just the same about Red Onion").
    I was initially skeptical about the double-sided croutons, but I was wrong... they were delicious and they kept their crunchiness. I am no longer skep-ticklish. Did you invent these croutons? If so you should copyright them quickly... before I do.
    Another soup success notched up.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Woohoo!!! So glad you liked it. I don't think my veggies were as complementary as yours appeared to be, I would have loved to witness an exchange as you describe. Also, it looks like you whizzed a greater proportion than I did, but indeed this is the idea of asoupaweek - to give it a bash and make it your own. I did invent the croutons myself, but I'm not sure how one goes about copyrighting a crouton...

    ReplyDelete
  3. Also, I am blushing at Soup Saint. Can we stick with Dragon for a while, it's all getting a bit too much.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Tried this tonight with my daughter and we loved it. The croutons rocked!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Woohoo! Glad it went well! Thanks for having a go and posting :)

      Delete