Description
Classic French Tomato Soup highlights Julia Child’s culinary mastery with simple, rich ingredients. Comfort meets elegance in this smooth, hearty recipe that delights with each spoonful you savor.
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 (28 oz / 794 g) can tomatoes, whole peeled or crushed
- 1 ½ cups low sodium vegetable stock or chicken stock
- 4 tbsps (60 ml) unsalted butter
- ½ large onion, cut into large wedges
- ½ tsp fine sea salt, or more to taste
Instructions
- Butter Infusion: Melt unsalted butter in a spacious saucepan over medium heat until golden and aromatic, creating a rich flavor foundation.
- Onion Transformation: Introduce diced onion wedges to the butter, sautéing until translucent and tender, stirring occasionally to prevent scorching and develop a soft, sweet undertone.
- Tomato Integration: Combine whole peeled tomatoes and their juices, manually crushing them into smaller fragments, allowing their vibrant essence to permeate the developing soup.
- Liquid Enhancement: Incorporate vegetable or chicken stock, seasoning with fine sea salt, and stir thoroughly to marry the ingredients’ complex flavors and create a harmonious base.
- Simmering Alchemy: Elevate heat to initiate a gentle simmer, then reduce to low, covering the saucepan and allowing the ingredients to meld and intensify for approximately 30 minutes, occasionally stirring and softly breaking down tomato pieces.
- Textural Refinement: Utilize an immersion blender or transfer to a standard blender, pureeing the mixture until achieving a silky-smooth consistency, ensuring no lumps remain and maximizing flavor integration.
- Final Calibration: Assess the soup’s depth and consistency, adjusting with additional stock, water, or seasoning to perfect the taste profile and desired thickness.
- Presentation Flourish: Serve in warm bowls, adorning with optional garnishes like fresh cream, chopped basil, crisp croutons, or delicately grated Parmesan cheese to elevate the sensory experience.
Notes
- Butter Browning Technique: Melt butter slowly to develop a rich, nutty flavor that enhances the soup’s overall depth and complexity.
- Tomato Breaking Tip: Crush tomatoes by hand for a more rustic texture and to release natural sweetness, avoiding overmixing that can make the soup tough.
- Simmering Secret: Low and slow cooking allows flavors to meld together, transforming simple ingredients into a deeply satisfying soup.
- Blending Wisdom: Use an immersion blender for minimal cleanup, or transfer carefully to a standard blender in small batches to prevent hot liquid splashing.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: Lunch, Dinner, Snacks
- Method: Simmering
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 4
- Calories: 150
- Sugar: 6 g
- Sodium: 360 mg
- Fat: 10 g
- Saturated Fat: 6 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 4 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 15 g
- Fiber: 3 g
- Protein: 3 g
- Cholesterol: 20 mg