Fire-Roasted Tomato Soup by Amy

I am so excited today to introduce my guest blogger, Amy from Serve at Once. I discovered her blog a few weeks ago and have enjoyed reading her funny stories and drooling over her recipes ever since. Her honeybun cake recipe was recently featured by Ree Drummond (aka The Pioneer Woman) on the Tasty Kitchen portion of thepioneerwoman.com.

I have asked Amy to share her Fire-Roasted Tomato Soup recipe with us for this week's Meatless Monday. Here she is, in her own words:

Hi. My name is Amy, and I'm a senior in college. I'm an English major...which pretty much means I have no idea what I want to do with the rest of my life.

And that's ok with me. Until May. When I have to figure out how I'm not going to starve.

*gulp*

But since it's December, I have a little more time until D-Day! And right now, I'm enjoying my last days in school and taking life one day at a time.

Also, I love puppy dogs, rainbows, and Diet Coke. 

And now, we are thoroughly acquainted! I know you can sleep tonight because we are now internet bff's. 

So last week, it snowed in Nashville. And I don't know if you've ever been privy to a Southern snow, let alone a Southern DECEMBER snow, but it ain't pretty. Let me walk you through a typical snowstorm here in Tennessee:

1. People catch wind of said storm.
2. There is a mad exodus to the grocery store. Bread, milk, and eggs are purchased like the Apocalypse is coming.
3. Because of said exodus, the roads resemble a clotted artery. People see the dust on the ground and think their cars are on an ice rink, and they drive like it.
4. Schools are closed because people drive like their cars are sliding around a hockey rink. 
5. People stay put because they figure if the city isn't risking the lives of children, then there is no reason they should put their lives at risk either. 
6. Thus, the world shuts down by 6 pm.

For academia, last week was final exam week...which, I'm sure you could guess, doesn't mix well with snow. College students hardly have any will to study anyway; put some fluffy snow on the ground, and they turn back into five-year-olds. And instead of going back to their apartments to study, my friends decided they were going to frolic in the snow. Then they decided that they weren't going to brave the roads. And then they decided to file into my apartment and complain of their raging hunger. 

Obviously, I have great friends.

I'm one of those people who buys extra things at the grocery store, justifying that it could to be a pantry item for "a rainy snowy day." One day in early fall, I happened to spot fire-roasted tomatoes, which I thought would add some zest to...a dish I would deem at a later point and time. Plus, the cans already had a "dollar-off two cans" coupon, so I couldn't not get them.

Right?

...

Right.

Thank you for justifying my extraneous purchases with me. I feel validated now. Too bad my bank account doesn't.

So before all of these hungry people showed up in my apartment, I had a random thought as I was watching the snow fall.

"Oh...I have fire-roasted tomatoes in my pantry. They would make an excellent soup today."

And then I kept furiously typing a paper for my final.

And then hungry people showed up. And they wanted soup. So, for once, my pantry was FULLY STOCKED, and I was able to produce something tasty from my own, two hands.

It was fate.

And behold, as necessity is the mother of invention, this soup was born.

This is not yo' mama's tomato soup.

It's zesty.

It's spicy.

It's good for grilled-cheese dipping.

It warms your belly on a cold winter day, which is what soup does best.

Stay warm, America, and enjoy your holiday season!

*Props to my wonderfully creative and talented friend, Caitlin Galo, who braved the 0 degree wind chill with me to snap some pictures of this soup with her beautiful Nikon.

Fire-Roasted Tomato Soup (serves 4-6)

Print this recipe

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, finely diced
• 2 14oz cans chopped fire-roasted tomatoes (I use Muir Glen)
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 2 tablespoons fresh herbs (basil, cilantro, parsley etc), finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper
• ½-1 cup heavy cream (depending on your texture preference)

In a 3-quart saucepan, saute onions over medium heat until tender, about
three minutes. Add garlic and saute til fragrant (about one minute),
making sure to stir constantly to prevent the garlic from burning.



Stir in tomatoes, stock, 1 tablespoon of the herbs (I used cilantro because I
had it on hand--the results were magnificent!), sugar, salt, black
pepper, and crushed red pepper. Heat until boiling, stirring
occasionally. When soup reaches a boil, cover and turn the heat to
simmer for 15 minutes. Take soup off the burner and allow to cool
slightly, about 15 minutes.



Pour the cooled soup into a blender; how much of the soup you blend depends
on your texture preferences. Blend soup until desired consistency. Add
the soup back to the saucepan and heat until desired temperature. Add
cream and fresh herbs, and enjoy soup with grilled cheese or a crusty
loaf of bread.

Adapted from Muir Glen

This recipe is featured in Menu Plan: December 20-26.