Last week, the fall weather finally hit and, in addition to wrapping myself in sweaters and admiring the changing leaves on my Brooklyn block, I was craving soup. Especially tomato soup, and especially because it had a fresh loaf of sourdough and a generous piece of Jarlsberg cheese (as Adrian Grenier points out in The devil wears Prada) hanging out in my kitchen. The grilled cheese plan was solved, but the only thing I was missing? Royal tomato soup.
Sure, I could have opened my front door, run down the street to any of my neighborhood’s fancy grocery stores, and bought some artisanal basil and nightshade mix, but did I mention it’s fall and there’s a chill in the air? So instead, I opened my pantry doors and saw a jar of Rao’s Roasted Red Pepper Tomato Sauce. And what is tomato soup if not a diluted tomato sauce, right? I also found vegetable broth in my pantry. This could work.
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I googled for a few minutes to confirm my hunch (yes, tomato sauce is basically a thick tomato soup) and got to work. I poured the entire contents of Rao’s jar into a saucepan and added a cup of vegetable broth, although I should mention that the consistency of the soup is a personal decision and I encourage you to follow your heart during this step. Then I added about a half cup of half and half that we had in the refrigerator. Since the tomato sauce was already flavored, there wasn’t much else to add other than salt and pepper, but my husband grated some Parmesan cheese on top and I had no complaints. We heated it up for about 10 minutes, the perfect time to grill some cheese sandwiches, and dinner was ready.
To sum up:
1 24 oz can tomato sauce
1 cup (more or less) vegetable broth
1/2 cup half and half
Grated parmesan cheese on top
You can adjust the recipe however you like by adding garlic and basil, or swapping out the dairy for oat or almond milk. I would even like to try a version with a different flavor sauce. The best part is that you can play with the ingredients as much as you want and if you’re lucky, you’ll never have to leave the house.
What are some of your favorite tomato soup riffs? Share them in the comments below.
