Is it worth making tomato soup with a tomato glut

Post by **merry** » Sun Oct 02, 2022 12:01 pm

I'm thinking No but then again there is a limit on how many fresh tomatoes one can eat.

This looks like a nice simple recipe:

4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 large onion, cut into large wedges
10-12 fresh tomatoes
1 ½ cups water, vegetable stock, or chicken stock
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt, or more to taste

DIRECTIONS
Melt butter over medium heat in a large saucepan.

Add onion wedges, water, tomatoes and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Bring to a simmer. Cook, uncovered, for about 40 minutes. Stir occasionally and add additional salt as needed.

Blend the soup, and then season to taste. - you can add cream for 'cream of tomato soup'. Which I would do. Obviously.

eccles · Post by **eccles** » Sun Oct 02, 2022 12:46 pm

Looks good. But why "unsalted butter" when you add salt anyway? Just use salted butter and add less salt.

Post by **merry** » Mon Oct 03, 2022 10:01 pm

That's one of my gripes about recipes, Eccles!! ridiculous isn't it. I rant every time I see it.

Another one I hate:

Ingredients:

Flour
butter
4 oz cheese
pepper
four wanglesnoozles (if liked)
milk

.... Rub the butter into the flour. Stir in the cheese. Add the wanglesnoozles (if using)....

OF COURSE I WON'T BE ADDING THE DAMNED WANGLESNOOZLES IF I'M NOT USING THEM, WILL I!!!

eccles · Post by **eccles** » Mon Oct 03, 2022 10:36 pm

Oooh, I love wanglesnoozles. They're gert lush.

asymphototropic · Post by **asymphototropic** » Tue Oct 04, 2022 12:31 am

If I may explain.

Back in the last millenium, if the milk was on its way to souring, you could salt it to stop the process, and then make cottage cheese or salted butter. That way the milk wasn't wasted. Recipes that called for "best butter" wanted something that tasted entirely fresh. Salted butter wasn't used for fancy pastry recipes, for example. So a snobby recipe might call for unsalted butter, and then tell you to add salt.

Homemade tomato soup tastes so much better than canned. Go for it!

Wildrover · Post by **Wildrover** » Tue Oct 04, 2022 11:39 am

I am a fairly reasonable cook but not outstanding like the ex Mrs WR and I have only made a couple of things in my life that I think could be served at the poshest tables. However one of these was an extremely simple tomato and red pepper soup which I've cooked many times and always tastes wonderful no matter how much I botch it up. I don't have a recipe but essentially it's one onion, one fennel bulb, two/three red peppers, one red chilli and 4 cloves of garlic per pound of tomatoes chucked in a baking tray, drizzled with olive oil and roasted in the oven. Tip it into a pan with a pint of vegetable stock and blitz with a hand blender until smooth. I think most people add basil or other herbs but I don't as there are already enough competing flavours. It's the easiest thing on the planet to cook and incredibly healthy with all those antioxidants and enough Vitamin C to sink a battleship. And it always tastes amazing!

Post by **merry** » Tue Oct 04, 2022 11:23 pm

I love the sound of it. That's just what I was hoping for. Thanks WR, tho I'll be leaving out the garlic as it fails the 'if liked' test

(can I change your w to a W? please?? it just doesn't look right to me! (ironic from a 'merry' I know!)

Wildrover · Post by **Wildrover** » Tue Oct 04, 2022 11:52 pm

Feel free - I copied annd pasted so I assumed the w was lower case on the old site..

Furby · Post by **Furby** » Wed Oct 05, 2022 7:30 am

You can freeze tomatoes . Cut them in quarters and put laid out in an ice cream tub until frozen then can go in a freezer bag. No use for fresh vegetables as they don't defrost but can go in cooked foods like stews.

Post by **merry** » Wed Oct 05, 2022 11:18 pm

Thank you, Furby. I had actually not thought of that.

Furby · Post by **Furby** » Fri Oct 28, 2022 7:21 am

I was looking at soups in general to stock up on tinned for winter. 1.40 for a tin of Heinz tomato they are having a laugh arent they so yes it will be worth making tomato soup. Depending on if the chef can make edible soup of course. Even Tesco own was 60p and Plant Chef still 55p but thats still dear I used to get three tins for a pound before covid.

Wildrover · Post by **Wildrover** » Fri Oct 28, 2022 1:25 pm

Shows how much prices have increased - I still have a couple of cans of Heinz tomato soup left from the tray of 24 cans I got at Costco last Christmas. The tray cost £15 or 62.5p a can. I often look at the price of that soup and I'm sure it was only £1 per can a few months back in Sainsbury's. You can still get the same product for 62.5p per can from lowpricefoods.com - a friend of mine swears by them and their prices are certainly very cheap but the range is limited and a lot of stuff is sold out. I'm biased but I prefer my soup anyway...

Post by **merry** » Sun Nov 06, 2022 9:44 pm

Heinz tomato soup 5 for £5 at ASDA at present.

Or a 6-pack for £4.50. 75p a can.

30p a can for Asda own brand value stuff which prob won't be as nice.

Post by **merry** » Sun Nov 06, 2022 9:50 pm

On WR's lowpricefoods, 2 cans H. soup for £1.20.

Some good stuff on that site! I haven't got to how much delivery will be yet though

Post by **merry** » Sun Nov 06, 2022 9:57 pm

Delivery was £4.95 but apparently my box was only "19% full" and I could have added more items for the same delivery price.

It reminded me a lot of Approved Foods which I used to make the occasional order of strange and wonderful things from!