Cooking With Ciarán!

Ahhhh Tomato Soup. This all-American classic is the staple of many childhoods and memories. I can guess almost every single one of you can remember having some warm and delicious tomato soup, usually accompanied by a gooey and buttery grilled cheese sandwich. I learned quite a lot about cooking, and how important it is to use the correct equipment when making soup. One false turn and your soup can go from restaurant quality, to school cafeteria quality soup.

The main cast all lined up!

First things first lets throw in some onions, pepper, garlic, and salt. I now know next time not to add so much pepper, there was a bit to much for my liking!

Yikes, don't look, its my bad side 😉

I have to admit I felt kind of evil slowly stirring a liquid in what was as close to a cauldron as you could get, with a large spoon. It gave it all a bit of a dark undertone usually meant for witches and warlocks!

It all begins to take shape! As I continued stirring the soup it looked way to dark so we added some whole milk and it lightened up almost instantly!

And the finished product! Over all it was really good, but looking back at the recipe as I have the book right next to me, I realise that instead of adding 2 TEAspoons of pepper I added 2 TABLEspoons of pepper. Not my finest moment... 

Over all the dish was excellent and my family and I now have a good snack to munch on over the coming days. The bread that went along with it was nice and cheesy and warm. It gave a great companion for the soup. I'm very proud of how the soup turned out. Although maybe next time ill take a second look at the amount of seasoning I'm supposed to add...

Have fond memories of some delicious tomato soup? Absolutely cant stand it? Have a recipe of your own? Let me know down in the comments and Ill catch you next time!

RECIPE:

Ingredients:
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 medium onions, diced
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon  dried chili flakes
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
2 (28 Oz.) cans diced San-Marzano tomatoes
2 cups vegetable stock
1 tablespoon sugar
3/4 cup shaved parmesan
1/2 of a 28-inch baguette, sliced diagonally into 1-inch slices
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
10 basil leaves, torn

1. In a large pot or saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, chili flakes, salt and pepper. Stir and cook for about 5 to 7 minutes until onions have softened.

2. Add tomatoes, vegetable stock, and sugar together and simmer on medium-low heat for 10 minutes. Remove from heat.

3. Meanwhile, sprinkle Parmesan on bread and toast under the broiler until the cheese has melted, about 1-2 minutes. Set aside. (Don't walk away from it while it's cooking because it may burn.)

4. Puree the soup along with the butter until smooth. You can use an immersion blender, blender, or food processor to do this.

5. Return soup to the large pot or saucepan, stir in basil, and serve warm in bowls with some Parmesan toast.

                           O'Keeffe, Stuart, and Kathleen Squires. "Soups." The Quick Six Fix: 100 No-fuss, Full-flavor Recipes, Six Ingredients, Six Minutes Prep, Six Minutes Clean-up. New York: William Morrow, an Imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, 2016. 64. Print.