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Roasted Tomato Soup with sautéed leeks, panfried Hopi Amaranth seeds and Forbidden black rice
An enhanced recipe for Tomato from my book for enhancing and preserving your garden tomato abundance
Making my first pot of homemade tomato soup with my own homegrown ripe heirloom tomatoes 20 years ago was a pivotal moment for me. I remember having my first spoonful and being blown away by the flavor and thinking “what the hell have I been eating from those Campbell Soup cans all these years!? This here is tomato soup!”.
It was one of those moments that began to shift my attitude towards gardening and growing my own vegetables from seeing it as a fun fascination/hobby to feeling passionate about wanting it to be a cornerstone of my life.
When you warm up a bowl of this in the dead of winter and get that burst of fresh garden flavor you will decide it was worth that one afternoon in late summer/fall spent slaving over the hot stove and I am betting you`ll make it into a tradition like I did 🙂
This version is upgraded from the original recipe in my book with ingredients I have become familiar with and come to love in the last decade.
Ingredients:
– 23 ripe romas, roasted then blended (or approx.. 5 lbs of ripe heirloom tomatoes)
– 1 – 2 large onions, diced (red or yellow)
– 2 – 3 large leeks (sliced)
– 1/4 cup Hopi Red Amaranth (or other amaranth or quinoa seeds)
– 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup Forbidden Black or Wild Rice
– 4 – 5 large Purple Amaranth leaves (or Red Russian Kale or other anthocyanin rich leafy greens like red cabbage) finely diced
– 2 tbsp of Ramp Pesto or diced fermented ramp leaves or dried ramp leaves (or a couple cloves of garlic)
– 2 tbsp. diced fresh oregano (or about 1 1⁄2 teaspoon dried)
– 1⁄2 cup diced packed fresh basil leaves (and more to taste)
– 1/4 cup organic olive oil (or equal amount of organic butter for a richer flavor)
– 2 or 3 large carrots, thinly sliced
– 4 celery stalks, thinly sliced
– 2 potatoes, finely diced
– 1 sprig of fresh thyme
– a pinch or two of rosemary
– a handful of dried nettle leaves crushed into small pieces
– 1 bay leaf
– 4 to 6 cups of homemade broth
– black pepper to taste
(optional ingredients)
– a few handfuls of diced spinach or kale
– some diced up squash
– some Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top of a served bowl as a garnish
Directions:
Make your croutons via chopping up some sourdough bread into cubes, drizzling with olive oil, adding some herbs, maybe some parmesan or swiss and baking at 350 until crispy.
You can store the croutons in an airtight container in the fridge for a week or freezer for months. Great for soups or salads. (for a basic crouton recipe, check this out). For info on how to make your own sourdough bread from scratch, check out this post.
Roast your Polbanos the night before while making a different meal on the grill (unless you are amazing at multitasking).
Next, Set oven to 350 (roast). Slice tomatoes in half and Place your tomatoes on one large (or several) cooking trays, sprinkle with some herbs of your choice and drizzle lightly in olive oil, roast for 20-25 min or until skin is beginning to get crispy/blackened.
While tomatoes roast, dice up all the other veggies, throw a splash of olive oil (or organic butter) in a large pot and then add the veggies. Cook on medium-high heat until softened and then add the broth and herbs.
Set to high heat and bring to a boil before returning to low heat and simmering while you prepare your roasted tomatoes.
Once tomatoes are cooked, remove them from the oven and allow them to cool until they are able to be run through a food processor with all the basil. Use the pulse feature and blend the tomatoes until smooth (or a bit chunky if you prefer that) in batches, adding them to the large pot when each batch in the food processor is emulsified. Once all the tomatoes are added to the pot, stir well, bring to a boil and then turn back down to low.
Taste and see if you want to add any more fresh basil or other greens and throw in a pinch of black pepper.
If you do not make the croutons, Serve with buttered bread, dinner rolls, or better yet with grilled cheeses made with rich white cheeses and grainy bread. Freezes well, will keep for approx. 10 days in the fridge.
The recipe above is an upgraded and enhanced version of a recipe from my book (cover shown in image below).
If you would like to have access to well over a hundred other fun and nutritious recipes like this there is info to where you can purchase either a physical or digital copy of my book below.
For those interested in purchasing a physical copy of the book you can do so through this link:
