I think my favorite season is fall. During fall, I am already prepping and getting ideas for the holidays to come. In the midst of this I am also busy collecting the last burst of love from my tomato plants. This year’s crop has been a very pleasant surprise. While many other people were singing the tomato woes – small yields, etc., I have been fortunate with my little raised garden bed.
This year we planted Beef Master (beefsteak size and sweetness), Early Girls (for a more immediate tomato fix because they are the first to bloom and grow, and grape tomatoes. These last ones have been a source of endless delight! Sweet and wonderful! I have truly enjoyed the bounteous crop.
Because the weather is changing and we get a few cooler nights and days, my thoughts turn to soup for the first time in months. I was recently at a point where I could not get my surplus tomatoes to the Outreach Pantry and some of them were getting a tad juicy for slicing for sandwiches or quartering for salads. And I had more than a few of them and no space to freeze any more sauce or salsa. What do I do with all the tomatoes?
Ah ha! Soup…. But it had to be easy and quick. I decided to cut up the tomatoes into smallish chunks and add some vegetables. What follows is a recipe for Garden Soup, tasty and easy to make.
Garden Soup
Ingredients
- 1 to 1 ½ pounds of very ripe tomatoes coarsely chopped (if you do not have fresh very ripe tomatoes use a large can of diced tomatoes)
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 2 summer squash (one green and one yellow zucchini)
- ½ large sweet red bell pepper (or if you have an orange or yellow one use that – just don’t use all green bell pepper)
- ½ medium green bell pepper
- McCormick’s Perfect Pinch Mediterranean seasoning
- 1 small white or yellow onion
- 1 large shallot
- 6 large basil leaves
- 1 ½ Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- Kosher salt
- Freshly ground pepper
- ¼ tsp Cayenne pepper (optional)
- Crumbled Feta Cheese or large grated Parmesan
Directions
- Take your chopped tomatoes and place in a medium-large Dutch oven or soup pot. Add a pinch of salt and an equal amount of pepper. Turn the burner on very low and allow to heat slowly while you prep the other ingredients.
Prep the rest of the veggies:
- Peel, then quarter the onion and then slice into ¼ inch quartered rings.
- Smash, and then dice the garlic cloves.
- Peel, then dice the shallot.
- Remove the seeds and white ribs from the peppers you are using and cut them so that they are ¾ to 1 inch squares.
- Remove the stem and flower ends from the squash and cut into thick ( ¼ to ½ inch slices)
- Wash the Basil Leaves and pat dry.
- Put your olive oil into a medium to large sauté pan and turn burner on to medium-low.
- Add your onion slices and diced shallot and sauté – stirring them for about 4 minutes. You want them softened but not translucent.
- Add a pinch of salt and the McCormick seasoning.
- Add the garlic and the peppers and continue to sauté, stirring to make sure you do not scorch the garlic.
- Add the squash and sauté for an additional 5 minutes. Don’t overcook the squash – it needs to be warmed through but still al denté.
- Add all the sautéed vegetables to the pot with the tomatoes. Add the Cayenne pepper at this time and stir well. Heat the soup to just boiling and then back it down to a slow simmer for an additional 5 minutes.
- Roll the basil leaves inside of one another – sort of like you are trying to roll a mini cigar. Take the rolled leaves and either cut or use scissors to create fine basil slices.
Ladle the soup into bowls and garnish with basil and about a tablespoon of the cheese for each bowl. It will easily serve 4 people and there may even be leftovers. Mangia!
