A tomato soup is everyone’s favorite. Canned tomatoes come to our rescue during long winters when fresh tomatoes, sweet like summer kisses, are out of season. The key to the soup’s smoothness and deep flavor lies in roasting canned tomatoes with the onion, garlic, and basil and blending them with a broth, soy sauce, and tahini, turning the mixture into the perfect cream soup, enriched with sesame-flavored fireworks. Here comes the no-cook tomato soup.
Yours too? Tomato soup is the unquestionable queen. My childhood was ruled by the one made with tomato paste and hectoliters of heavy cream, which gave it the pinkish-orange shade. During summer, I enjoy the soup made with fresh tomatoes that is like a dynamic fusion of sweetness and sourness. However, I do not make it often – when it is so hot that my shirt sticks to my chest, I think of anything but a bowl of hot soup. I save this idea for winter when it is too cold to stick my nose out of my window.
But then comes the issue – there are no more fresh tomatoes, only those from the supermarket, shining like first-rate plastic. In such situations, I grab canned tomatoes and turn them into the ultimate tomato soup. The ultimate, because while eating it, you wouldn’t even think that it’s not tomato season. Nay! Its tomato flavor is intense, pleasingly sweet, and deep. It also doesn’t require any cooking. You just have to put everything in a tray and wait, armed with a blender, to transform those simple ingredients into heavenly cream. Finally, it has this subtle smell of tahini which tastes exquisitely in the company of tomatoes.
The Ultimate Tomato Soup with Canned Tomatoes and Tahini
2-4 servings
2 cans (2 x 400g) whole canned tomatoes
1 large white onion, peeled and sliced into quarters
4 garlic cloves, peeled
4 basil sprigs
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon cane sugar
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
4 cups vegetable broth
2 tablespoons soy sauce
6 tablespoons tahini
3 tablespoons lemon juice
fine sea salt, freshly ground pepper
grilled sourdough bread, to serve
Preheat the oven to 220°C/425°F, (top/bottom heating). Line a baking tray or dish with baking paper. Place the canned tomatoes, onion, garlic, basil, tomato paste, cane sugar, olive oil, and ¾ teaspoon of fine sea salt in the tray. Season with freshly ground pepper and mix everything with a spoon. Roast until the onion is soft and the tomatoes are slightly caramelized, about 50 minutes.
Transfer all the ingredients from the tray into the blender pitcher, add the vegetable broth, soy sauce, and 3 tablespoons of tahini. Blend into a silky smooth cream, for about 2 minutes. Pour into the pot and bring to a boil. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper, if needed.
In the meantime prepare a sauce. Put the remaining 3 tablespoons of tahini into the bowl. Combine them with 2 tablespoons of cold water and lemon juice. Add more water, if needed. The sauce should be liquid. Season with salt and pepper.
Serve the soup with the tahini sauce, spreading it all over the soup’s surface, as Picasso spread paints on his paintings. To double the pleasure, grill some slices of sourdough bread with olive oil, and serve them with the soup.
Advice/tips
Don’t hesitate to play with different kinds ofherbs – or you can even omit them completely or replace them with dried ones. If you don’t like tahini, don’t try to use peanut butter instead, as your instinct may tell you – it just doesn’t match the picture. The soup will be tasty anyway, even without those additional sesame-flavored fireworks.
Do not forget to show your soup to the world! Post its photo on Instagram and tag me in it, so that I can see it! If you don’t follow my account on Instagram and TikTok, please do it to be always up to date!
Yours,
Rozkoszny
