VCE: Cold Tomato Soup

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* Exported from MasterCook *

 

Cold Tomato Soup

 

Recipe By : Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, Deborah Madison, page 235

Serving Size : 4 Preparation Time :0:00

Categories : Soups And Stews Vegetables

 

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method

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4 pounds vine-ripened tomatoes -- peeled

and seeded -- juice reserved

Salt and freshly milled pepper

Sugar and/or sherry vinegar

Extra virgin olive oil -- to finish

OR sour cream

Chopped basil or marjoram

2 scallions -- thinly sliced

including a few of the greens

 

SERVES 4 TO 6

 

This soup should be a staple in everyone's August kitchen. It requires

only ripe, juicy tomatoes and time in the refrigerator (or good canned

tomato juice when fresh tomatoes are lacking). So many flavors flatter

tomatoes, this soup is easy to tailor to whatever else you happen to be

serving - and to a multitude of garnishes.

 

Finely chop the tomatoes by hand until they're very fine, almost like a

purée. (You can use a blender, but it introduces so much air that the

tomatoes turn frothy and pink.) Put the tomatoes in a bowl and add the

reserved juice and 2 teaspoons salt. Cover and chill well. Taste and add

more salt if needed. If the tomatoes are very tart, add 1 teaspoon sugar

and a few drops vinegar to balance the flavors. Taste and continue

adjusting until you have it the way you like.

 

Ladle the soup into bowls and thread a spoonful of olive oil over the top

of each. Add pepper and garnish with the basil and scallions.

 

COLD TOMATO SOUP WITH AVOCADO AND LIME

Season the soup with lime juice instead of vinegar and garnish with diced

avocado, chopped cilantro and finely diced white onion. Fragrant Mexican

marigolds make a stunning aromatic garnish if you have them.

 

COLD TOMATO SOUP WITH LITTLE GARNISHES (GAZPACHO)

Your guests can finish their own soup when presented with little bowls of

garnishes set on a tray, as in Spain. Include white onion or scallion,

green pepper, cucumber, hard-cooked egg, and tiny croutons crisped in olive

oil. Finely dice everything and arrange in mounds or set in individual dishes.

 

Additional Seasonings. Try lightly whipped cream flavored with minced

herbs, curry-flavored oil, lemon zest chopped with garlic and parsley or

lovage leaves, ribbons of opal basil, cooked rice, or additional diced

tomatoes. Almost all of the vinaigrettes and dressings make excellent

seasonings for this hospitable soup.

 

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