Description: With cooking tips to further the noble art that every Hobbit is taught before he or she learns to read and write (TT, Bk 2, Ch 4).
Submitted by: Morna_Child_of_Eru on 2005-03-14 23:44:19
Serves: 2-3 people or one hungry Hobbit
Prep Time: Prep time: About 20 minutes if using fresh herbs,
Difficulty: Easy
Ingredients
2 cups broth or stock (chicken, but you can use vegetable broth/stock)½ white onion, minced
1 large or 2 small cloves of garlic, minced fine
1 16oz can diced tomatoes
2 ribs of celery, cut into one-inch pieces
2 carrots (or 10 baby carrots) cut into one-inch pieces
2 tbs olive oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
1 tsp fresh oregano, chopped
1 bay leaf
You can use dried herbs, but remember that they are more potent than fresh and that they loose their flavor over time. Reduce the amount to 1/3 of the amount of fresh herbs called for in the recipe, and don't use dried herbs that are over 6 months old.
Instructions
Put the tomatoes, carrots and celery into a blender or food processor. Pulse until it is about the consistency of store-bought salsa. Set aside. Cover the bottom of a medium-size saucepan with the oil, add the onions and salt before turning on the heat. Then turn on the stove to medium and sweat (cook) the onions, stirring frequently, until they soften and turn translucent.Once the onions are soft, add the garlic and stir until the garlic is just fragrant, about 30-60 seconds. Don't let it brown. Add the tomato-carrot-celery mix and the herbs. Simmer for 10 minutes if using fresh herbs, for 20-30 if using dried.
Serve and enjoy. This soup is particularly good with a few thick slices of whole-grain bread.
Make this soup your own
We can assume many Hobbits came up with their own recipes. Play around with the herbs and spices to find a combination you really like. Other herbs and spices that go well in soups are; allspice, basil (esp with tomatoes), chives, cloves, dill, fennel, paprika, parsley, sage, and turmeric.
Some cooking tips
This recipe is one of the rare cases where canned is better than fresh. Canned tomatoes have more juice and more acid than fresh, both of which will make the soup taste better.
“Sweating†means pulling the moisture out of aromatic vegetables to concentrate their flavor. We want the onions to soften and turn translucent, but not to brown. Starting with a cold pan will help reduce the risk of browning and adding the salt will help draw out moisture.
We add the garlic after the onions are almost cooked because it burns much more easily then onions.
Dried herbs take longer to release their flavor than fresh. Another option is to make the soup the day before and let it sit the fridge for 24 hours.