Winter Tomato Soup With Crostini Recipes

TOMATO-BASIL CROSTINI

Steps:

• In a bowl, combine tomatoes, basil leaves, olive oil, and red-wine vinegar; season with salt and pepper. Top crostini with topping.

TOMATO SOUP WITH PARMESAN CROUTONS

Steps:

• In a large pot, heat butter and oil over medium-high heat, then add onion, garlic, and carrots. Stir and cook for 5 minutes. Add tomato paste and stir it in, cooking for another 2-3 minutes. Add canned tomatoes with their juice, broth, and water. Stir together and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat, cover the pot, and simmer for 15-20 minutes, longer if you have time. Use an immersion blender to puree, still leaving some texture to the tomatoes. Add cream, salt, pepper, parsley, and basil, and simmer for another 5 minutes. To make the croutons, drizzle crostini rounds lightly with olive oil. Place little piles of Parmesan in a nonstick skillet. Place a crostini round on top of each pile. Turn on the heat to medium. Press with a spatula as you melt the cheese into each round. When set, flip to the other side to toast. Serve soup with one or two croutons on top and a little bit of basil.NOTE: Recipe can easily be halved!

WINTER TOMATO SOUP

Steps:

• In a saucepan melt butter and add olive oil, onion, thyme, basil and salt and pepper.
• Cook, stirring, until onions wilt.
• Add tomatoes and tomato paste.
• Simmer 20 minutes.
• Blend together 5 T of the chicken broth with the flour.
• Add this to the soup, stir, then add rest of broth.
• Simmer 30 minutes, stirring often to prevent burning.
• Puree soup in blender.
• Return to heat.
• Add sugar and cream.
• Simmer 5 more minutes.

WINTER TOMATO SOUP WITH CROSTINI

Steps:

• For the soup: In a large soup pot, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onions and 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook, stirring, until the onions are softened, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the garlic cloves, carrot and pepper flakes, lower the heat, cover and cook until the vegetables are sweet and juicy but not browned, 15 to 20 minutes. Check, stirring occasionally, and add 1 tablespoon water if the vegetables appear dry. Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring, until the olive oil turns reddish orange, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes with their juice, the broth, orange zest, and sage and bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove pot from heat and discard the orange zest and sage. Puree the soup with an immersion blender (or, working in batches, in a regular blender or a food processor) until smooth. Season with salt and black pepper. Transfer to a saucepan and reheat before serving. For the crostini: Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In a small bowl, use a fork to beat together the goat cheese, olive oil, thyme, lemon zest, and a few grinds of black pepper until smooth. Slice the baguette on the bias into four to six 1/3-inch-thick slices that are 2 to 3 inches long. Lay the slices in a single layer on a baking sheet and toast in the oven until crisp, 5 to 7 minutes. Spread the toasts with the goat cheese mixture. Ladle the soup into four bowls; float a crostini on each (I served the crostini on the side, as Justin is not a fan of soggy bread).