Sometimes You Read the Comments: Tuscan Tomato-White Bean Soup

 Hello everyone! This summer has been rather lazy in the cooking department. For meals, I've mostly made things I'm familiar with because the humidity sometimes get so bad I don't even want to think very hard. 

Suddenly, it was September and I realized if I was going to do anything special with fresh tomatoes, I should probably do it now or not until next year.

I'm losing my job (anyone need an IT Project Manager?) at the end of September, so comfort food is called for. Last time I made tomato soup, the results were not my favorite, though I definitely learned a few things.

This recipe intrigued me. I love white beans, though I usually have them in a salad with tuna. Hey, protein! Definitely makes the soup heartier, and the recipe is also easily adaptable to serve my vegan friends. Plus, I don't usually get enough vegetables in a given day/week anyway.

The comments on this recipe ranged from OMG I love it to I Had to Adjust. So, I adjusted quite a bit.

Our ingredients:

• 3 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling (mild grump here for having to capitalize Tablespoon all over this recipe.)
• 1 large onion, chopped (I also threw in a shallot)
• 5 cloves garlic, smashed
• Kosher salt
• 2 Tablespoons tomato paste (I doubled this because one of the comments had mentioned they thought the recipe bland and they added both sugar and vinegar)
• 2 pounds tomatoes, chopped (I used Roma, which several recipes I looked at recommended for soup. I also threw in some leftover cherry tomatoes I had in the apartment)
• 2 15-ounce cans no-salt-added white beans, drained and rinsed (I could not find no-salt-added, so I went with low sodium and rinsed them twice)
• 1 quart low-sodium vegetable or chicken broth (I used vegetable here)
• 1 sprig rosemary, plus 1 teaspoon chopped leaves (I used four)
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes, plus more for sprinkling (I doubled this)
• 4 cups cubed ciabatta bread (about 4 ounces)
• 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (about 2 ounces)

The instructions were easy to follow:

1. Heat 1 Tablespoon olive oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the onion, 3 garlic cloves (try 5) and a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is softened, 5 minutes (15). Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring occasionally, 1 minute (5). Add all but 1/2 cup of the chopped tomatoes (I threw in them all, I'll explain why in a bit), the beans, broth, 1 cup water (1/2 Cup chicken broth, 1/2 cup water), the rosemary sprig(2), red pepper flakes and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer 20 minutes.

Having learned my lesson the last time, I set a timer for 20 minutes, and continued listening to a current favorite podcast, Malevolent, while starting to write this entry. For the next hour, I got up and stirred every 20 minutes, scraping the sides as it reduced. When I tasted it, even with my additions, I felt it was way too bland, so I threw in a can of tomato paste, stirred, and put on another episode. 

I realize this is where many people would say, "Why didn't you just use an InstaPot?" It's a valid question, they're massively useful things, but I don't have one. The main reason is I like simmering the hell out of things for hours at a time. 

The simmering worked rather well, and I did so for another couple hours, stirring every twenty minutes or so. After another hour, I tasted and it needed salt, so I added another half teaspoon. 

I also took a Ciabatta roll out of the freezer, smashed another couple cloves of garlic and pulled the leaves off half a sprig of rosemary, added them to 3 Tablespoons of olive oil and let them simmer. I didn't want full-blown croutons as in step 3 below. I was going to make cheesy garlic soldiers. I cut a ciabatta roll into long strips, brushed with olive oil, baked at 400 for about 10 minutes, then broiled until the cheese started to turn brown.

Back to the soup: After another hour of simmering, it really didn't taste much like tomatoes. I was out of tomato paste at this point, so I threw in the remainder of a bottle of Bloody Mary mix, and cursed my luck.

After another hour, I was too hungry to wait anymore. It tasted good, and my cheesy bread made it great, but it's not where I would serve it to anyone. Still, it was warm and comforting.

Final instructions as written:

2. Discard the rosemary sprig. Working in batches, transfer the soup to a blender and puree until smooth. Season with salt. Return to the pot and cover to keep warm. (I have a stick blender, so I simply let the soup cool for a bit before getting going with the blending)

3.  Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil and 2 garlic cloves in a small skillet over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned, 5 minutes. Toss with the bread, chopped rosemary, mozzarella and a pinch each of salt and red pepper flakes on a baking sheet. Bake, stirring occasionally, until the croutons are golden, 10 minutes. Top each bowl of soup with the croutons and the reserved 1/2 cup chopped tomatoes; drizzle with olive oil.

 And a shot I remembered to take:

Thanks for reading!