Yes, the headline says “tomato soup,” and yes, that is a picture of tomato soup! We used “great white” tomatoes to make it, and it was heavenly. Once you’ve had heirloom tomato soup, you can’t go back to the plain ol’ red tomato soup … unless it’s made with some type of tasty red heirloom tomato like Amish paste. If you play around with various heirloom tomatoes, you’ll find that each one gives your soup a unique taste. Amana orange is one of my favorite tomatoes for soup. Maybe it’s the orange color tricking my mind, but it really tastes cheesy to me. Green zebra tomatoes give the soup a really citrus tang. And Cherokee purples … oh, well, they are just amazing in soup!
So, hopefully you have at least a couple pounds of your favorite heirloom tomatoes hiding in your freezer from last summer’s bountiful harvest. If not, you can use canned tomatoes. I really don’t recommend fresh tomatoes in winter unless you are living in a climate where they are growing at the moment, as the tomatoes in the produce sections of stores have all been picked green and then “ripened” with ethylene gas to look red, which is why they are so devoid of flavor. This is why we freezer so many tomatoes from our garden. And we freeze them in two pound bags so that we can make this soup.
2 pounds of tomatoes, peeled and chopped
1 t. garlic salt
1 t. paprika
1 t. cayenne or a chopped up dried jalapeno
2 t. oregano
1/4 c. butter
1/4 c. flour
1 1/2 cups whole milk
Toss tomatoes and spices into a pot to simmer. Meanwhile, melt butter in a saucepan and whisk in flour. After it bubbles, add it to the simmering tomatoes, increase heat to medium, and stir until it starts to bubble and thicken. Add milk. Use a stick blender to make creamy.
Rav says
i have to avoid sodium and this calls for a minimum of garlic salt
so at 151 mgs not to bad at all.
Now i’ll have to scout around for non-red tomatoes
or grow them myself.
Any recommendations for a variety?
thanks,
Rav
thriftyhomesteader says
My favorite is actually Amana Orange, but I’v never seen that in a store. Cherokee Purple is also really excellent. You can use any kind you want. They all taste a little different. You can even use red tomatoes. 🙂
Edith Hall says
Do you peel the tomatoes??
Edith Hall says
How do you freeze tomatoes to use later??? I need to know soon pls…
thriftyhomesteader says
To freeze tomatoes, we put them in boiling water and pull them out when the skin pops. Once the skin breaks open, which happens in about 15-45 seconds, it is really easy to slip it off the tomato. Then pull the tomato out of the hot water and put it into cold water to stop the cooking. Leave it in the cool water for a minute or longer. Then put in freezer bags and freeze.
Tracy says
I made this tonight with Golden King of Siberia tomatoes and a few heirloom paste tomatoes. I used my Nigerian Dwarf goat milk, added a little basil and sprinkled some parmesan Romano cheese on top. My husband and adult son were blown away by how amazing it was. Both asked me to keep this recipe. Thank you so much for sharing!
thriftyhomesteader says
Thanks so much for the feedback! Glad to hear your family loved it!