I love tomato soup; and with the abundance of tomatoes at our house these days, decided to create my own recipe. I chopped up several very ripe tomatoes and added them to boiling water. Sorry, I can't give quantities, because I simply do not create that way. But, definitely more tomatoes than water. I added minced garlic, a dash of salt, several dashes of pepper, and my favorite Penzeys Spice: Pasta Sprinkle. It is a mix of sweet basic, Turkish oregano, thyme and garlic. I also added a tablespoon or so of bacon bits (the flavor permeates the soup). I let this wonderful concoction simmer for maybe 10 minutes, until the tomatoes were essentially mush. After cooling a bit, I poured it into my blender and pushed "liquify." It was amazing!
I garnished the soup with homemade croutons, made from chopped up bread crusts, lightly tossed in olive oil and a little heavy on the lemon pepper... baked at 350 for 6 minutes each side, and allowed to cool.
You could even put a bit of grated cheese on top.
Voila! What a comfort food for early fall days.
