Kip's Cookery

Tomato Bisque

Tomato Bisque

This recipe is a little more complicated, but it is worth it! And you can store it for a quick fix later.

Ingredients for tomato soup concentrate part:

1/4 cup chopped onion

1/2 stalk chopped celery

1 small carrot, chopped

2 lbs of tomatoes, chopped with seeds removed

2 cubes of bouillon (I used vegetable, but you can use chicken or beef just as well)

1-2 tablespoon of sugar (depends on how sweet you want it, yes folks this is the secret of why tomato soup tastes like tomato soup and not tomato sauce)

1 teaspoon of salt

2 bay leaves

1/2 tablespoon of dried parsley

1/4 teaspoon of dried basil

1/4 teaspoon of black pepper

Ingredients for roux:

1/2 cup Butter

1/3 Flour

3 to 4 cups of Milk (anything down to 2%)

Cook:

In large pot over medium heat, sauté onion, celery, and carrot in a little butter, margarine, or oil until soft (onions translucent). Add tomatoes, bouillon, sugar, salt, bay leaves, parsley, basil, and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and let simmer for 30 minutes.

Let cool, pour in blender and blend until smooth (you might have to do this in 2 batches).

If you are serving it all right away, clean out pot. Make roux with butter, flour, and milk. Melt butter, add flour and stir until it starts to become golden, *slowly* add milk. It will become a thick paste at first, then becomes thinner. It's up to you how "bisque-y" you want your soup. Perhaps you want a smaller portion of the roux and go heavier on the tomato.

OR:

You can freeze the tomato soup concentrate in smaller batches/containers after you have finished blending it smooth. Then you can then take it out in the morning to thaw while you are at work. When you get home you can fix a small portion of the roux, add the thawed concentrate, and let warm while you fix a grilled cheese sandwich or a nice salad, and there's dinner for one or two.