Old World Tomato Soup Recipes

OLD FASHIONED TOMATO SOUP

Steps:

• In a large saucepan, bring tomatoes to a boil. Add baking soda, garlic salt, pepper and salt if desired. Reduce heat; add the milk and butter. Heat through but do not boil. Garnish with parsley if desired.

OLD-WORLD TOMATO SOUP

Steps:

• In a large kettle, combine water, ribs, soup bones, tomatoes, celery, onion, 1/4 cup parsley, salt and pepper. Cover and simmer for 2 hours. Add carrots and parsnips; cover and simmer for 1 hour or until meat and vegetables are tender. , With a slotted spoon, remove meat, bones and vegetables. Strain broth and skim off fat; return all but 1 cup broth to kettle. Set reserved broth aside. Remove meat from the bones; dice and return to kettle. Discard celery and onion. Cut parsnips, carrots and tomatoes into 1/2-in. pieces and return to kettle. Add remaining parsley. , In a large bowl, combine the sour cream, flour, nutmeg if desired and reserved broth; stir into soup. Add noodles. Cook and stir until thickened and heated through (do not boil).

OLD-WORLD CABBAGE SOUP

Steps:

• Place chopped cabbage into an 8-quart soup pot.
• Microwave diced carrot in 2 tablespoons water for 6 minutes on high.
• Microwave diced celery in 2 tablespoons water for 4 minutes on high.
• Add the microwaved vegetables to the pot. Add minced sweet onion, celery, and ketchup. Add juice cocktail, vegetable broth, chicken broth, and tomatoes. Fill each can with water, and add the water to the mixture. Cover, and bring to a boil. Continue boiling for 30 minutes.
• Reduce heat to simmer and cook for 2 to 3 hours.
• Serve with slices of a French baguette. Have salt, black pepper, and Tabasco available to season to taste at the table.

GOOD OLD-FASHIONED AMERICAN GRILLED CHEESE AND TOMATO SOUP

Steps:

• Heat a large nonstick pan over medium-low heat. Place 5 slices* of cheese in between two slices of bread (two on each side and one in the middle). Spread about 1 tablespoon butter on each exterior side of the bread. Remember, crust-to-crust is a must. Repeat with the remaining ingredients. Place the first side in the pan (cooking in batches if necessary) and "dome" with an inverted large metal bowl or pan lid to create the proper vortex of heat. Cook until golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes, then flip and continue to cook until the cheese is gooey and bread is golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes more.
• Cut, slowly separate and watch as the cascade of gooey good ol' American cheese catches the sunlight streaming through the kitchen window and throws a glow of warm orange light throughout your entire house. Repeat with the remaining sandwiches. Serve with the Tomato Soup.
• *I know this sounds excessive, but it ensures the most possible ooey-gooeyness. If you're watching the intake, you can scale back to 3 slices.
• Heat a large Dutch oven or soup pot over medium heat. Add the butter, onions, carrots, celery, chile flakes and a couple pinches of salt and pepper. Sauté until translucent, 10 to 12 minutes. Add the tomato paste and cook for an additional minute. Deglaze with the sherry while scraping up any brown bits from the bottom of the pot. Add the tomatoes, bay leaves and stock. Simmer until everything is cooked through and very tender, about 1 hour.
• Discard the bay leaves and blend the soup until completely smooth and uniform in texture using an immersion blender. Add the heavy cream and adjust the seasoning. Serve!

OLD WORLD MEATBALLS IN TOMATO SAUCE

Steps:

• Make meatballs first.
• Combine all meatball ingredients, adding enough Italian bread crumbs to allow the ground meat to stick together when formed into a ball.
• Form meatballs into size slightly smaller than Dunkin Donuts munchkins, or a little smaller than a golf ball.
• Set aside meatballs.
• Cover bottom of a large pot with a light coating of olive oil.
• Dice fresh garlic and add to pot, frying until golden (about 30 seconds), but do not burn.
• Add paste, puree, crushed tomatoes and water.
• Add spices to taste. Go easy on the red pepper flakes, as you can always add more later.
• Stir. Note: tomato sauce splatters if left unattended on the stove.
• When sauce begins to boil, lower the heat and place meatballs in one by one.
• Let cook for 15 minutes and then stir, being careful not to break apart meatballs. Thereafter, stir occasionally to prevent meatballs from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
• Cook over low heat for 2 1/2 hours.
• If sauce is too thick, add more water.
• If sauce is too spicy, add some sugar to balance out the spice.