I have been trying to find a great recipe for the tomato bisque soup I had when I was in France. I’ve been doing lots of research online and one thing I can definitely say is, there are a LOT of varying recipes and ideas!
I found one recipe that used rice, some that include celery and carrots, some using sugar and cream, and others which add tabasco or hot peppers. I don’t have the talent of being able to pick out exact ingredients to food on tasting it, so I don’t know if any of these is like the one I’m looking for! But OH MY GOSH I HAVE FOUND THE JAMIE OLIVER RECIPE SWAP FORUM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I am very happy about this because it means I can go back and forth with other people online and get their input. Other bloggers are inspirational, but they are all such EXPERTS! It’s hard sometimes to get my head around what these advanced cooks are doing! But, I find the recipes on Jamie’s site a lot easier to follow.
After poking around a bit, I found a thread called “Soup’s On!” which shows you different types of soup recipes that the forum users have tried and recommend! I love itttttt!!! I think soup is perfect for the evenings, when you are kind of tired and not too hungry, and just trying to get something warm into your stomach because it’s getting cold outside!!! So, I tried to find a recipe for tomato bisque on there, and I came up with this:
INGREDIENTS:
For the soup:
4 tomatoes – peeled, seeded and diced
4 cups tomato juice
14 leaves fresh basil
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup butter
salt and pepper to taste
sautéed chopped garlic (1 large clove) and/or shallot/onion (optional)
2 Tbsp olive oil
For the parmesan croutons:
4 large slices of bread
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
olive oil to coat
garlic salt (or plain salt is ok, too)
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
Sautee one clove garlic and one clove shallot in 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a stock pot over low/medium heat for 2 minutes. Add tomatoes and juice to the stock pot over medium heat. Simmer, covered for 30 minutes.
While that’s simmering, brush bread on one side with olive oil. Cut into cubes and spread out on an ungreased baking sheet, oiled side UP. Sprinkle lightly with garlic salt. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Bake in 300 degree oven for 20-30 minutes (it’s a slow, low heat thing – that’s what dries out the bread and makes it crispy – like a crouton. In fact, you can even do it at 275, depending on your oven.)
After the mixture has simmered for about 30 minutes, puree the tomato mixture along with the basil leaves (in a blender), and return the puree to the stock pot. (you don’t have to puree all of the mixture, if you want a little bit of texture left in the soup). Remember, when you puree hot liquids in a blender, only fill the blender 1/3 full (you will have to do it in 2 or 3 batches). Also, you may want to remove the center knob on the lid (to allow steam to escape). Just cover it with a small plate while your actually doing the pureeing.
Place the pot over medium heat, and stir in the heavy cream and butter. Season with salt and pepper. Heat, stirring just until the butter is melted. Remove from heat. Do not boil.
Pour soup into bowls and drop a bunch of croutons in. Yummm!!!
Thanks Jamie!
Naimah xoxo
