I think if I were to have to pick a favourite kind of soup for myself out of all the soups, tomato soup would be right up there near the top. I adore soup, and I especially like homemade soups. As I have told you in the past my mother made really good soups from scratch, but one kind she never did make from scratch was Tomato Soup. We always had tinned tomato soup, and I was always very happy with that. I still am, having a particular liking for the Heinz brand of tomato soup. I don't think it ever disappoints. I am trying harder though, these days, to cook everything that I can from scratch and that included Tomato Soup. This Tomato & Rice Soup is a particularly nice one!
It is simple, using nothing at all out of the ordinary, in fact I am guessing that you would have everything in the house right now to make it. Good tinned plum tomatoes. I like Cirio myself. In a soup where the tomato is the star, you want really good ones and I have never made any secret for my love of Cirio Tinned tomatoes. They are . . . simply put . . . the BEST. You can almost taste the Italian sunshine on them . . .
So . . . good tinned plum tomatoes in tomato juice . . . along with some vegetables. Carrots, onions, celery . . . nothing too fancy . . . a clove of garlic . . .
These are sauteed in a bit of butter and olive oil until golden. I then stir in a bit of whole wheat flour and leftover cooked brown rice . . . I cook that until the rice just begins to brown and then I add the tomatoes, breaking them up with the back of a wooden spoon, into nice chunks.
A bit of chicken stock and some dried herbs . . . basil and oregano . . . salt and black pepper, and my secret ingredient, a splash of hot sauce. Not a lot just a splash. It then gets simmered, covered . . . for about half an hour.
You could add a handful or two of baby spinach leaves. Its very good with those as well, but today I did not have any to add. Frozen spinach would also work.
At the end of that time you simply stir in a bit of light cream. I tend to use skimmed evaporated milk because it is lower in calories and fat and to be honest you can't really tell the difference. All in all this is a lovely soup. Toothsome, wholesome, and quite quite delicious!
*Tomato & Rice Soup*
Serves 4 - 6
Heat the butter and the oil in a large saucepan until the butter begins to foam. Add the celery, onion, carrot and garlic. Saute, stirring occasionally over medium low heat until the onion is golden. Stir in the flour and rice, breaking up the rice. Continue to saute until the rice begins to brown a bit. Add the tinned tomatoes, breaking them up with the back of a spoon, the chicken stock, brown sugar, oregano and basil and a splash of hot sauce if using. Bring to the boil, then reduce to a very slow simmer. Cover and simmer over low heat for about 30 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning with some salt and black pepper. Stir in the cream and heat through without boiling. Serve immediately.
I of course enjoy mine with crackers. Todd favours a roll. I tried to tempt him with some hot buttered toast instead today, but he wasn't having it. It was a roll all the way. I had some nice big whole wheat rolls and he thoroughly enjoyed. I think you will too! This is very diabetic friendly with the use of the brown rice and whole wheat flour, and the extra protein they provide. Bon Appetit!
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