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Tomato Soup

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The winter season is upon us, and in Cleveland it seems to be the longest stretch of the year. My mother always makes soup, she has quite a hand at making things taste just right, without needing a recipe. I however, am a recipe girl. I always have some type of source/sources, and tweak what I feel would suite us best.  This is the first time soup has been made in our house, I have never been a big fan of soup.  Maybe it is the slurping, or hunching shoulders as people scoop it rapidly into their mouths that turns me off.  But, my dear husband is a soup man.  So I took one for the team and made this for him, and I think I may have crossed over after tasting this. This tomato soup, is packed full of flavor, hearty, and the best part is the amount of time it takes to make.  If you chose to make it without the meat, it’s ready in 20-30 minutes.  With the meatballs, about an hour.  Get those spoons ready, I will close my eyes, SLURP AWAY!

INGREDIENTS:

  • 6 Carrots, chopped
  • 1 Large Onion, chopped
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/2 Tbsp Red Pepper Flakes
  • 1 Jar Marinara ( any kind, I used Trader Joe’s Tomato Basil )
  • 1 32 oz Container of Chicken Stock ( Or vegetable if you wanted a vegetarian soup )
  • 1/2 bag/box of a small pasta ( I used Orecchiette )
  • Fresh Basil to garnish
DIRECTIONS:
Heat a few tablespoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil in a dutch oven, add carrot, onion and garlic for 5-10 minutes until onion is translucent.  Add the marinara sauce, chicken stock, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper to taste.  You can leave the liquid as is, since marinara sauce is so thick I took the marinara jar and filled it with water and added that as well.  Use your judgement.  Cover, and let simmer for 5 minutes, then stir in your pasta.  8 minutes later your pasta is done.  Tear fresh basil over soup, mix in.  If you choose to add meatballs, make them before you start the pasta, and cook them in the oven while making the soup.  Remove from oven, and add them to the pot.
  • MEATBALLS: Use 1lb, or less of ground beef.  Make your meatballs as you like, use whatever recipe you have, just make them smaller.  I never measure while making meatballs so I apologize.  We use bread crumbs, salt, pepper, dried oregano, dried rosemary, garlic, and 1 egg to bind.  Roll approximately 1 tsp of meat into a ball, place onto a baking sheet lined with foil, bake meatballs for 20-30 minutes at 350*

Barely Adapted : Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis