Smoky Cream of Tomato Soup with Lime Cilantro Tuna Salad Sandwich

Smoky Cream of Tomato Soup with Lime Cilantro Tuna Salad Sandwich

I always make tomato soup with the last of the tomato crop. All kinds of tomatoes go into this soup recipe. This one in particular has Sun Sugar (orange color) cherry tomatoes, Lemon Boy yellow tomatoes and Mr. Stripey (pink & yellow) tomatoes. You can use any blend of tomatoes that you like so don’t feel like you have to use the tomatoes that I used. I first roast them with garlic in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes. This makes it easy to remove the skin from the Lemon Boys and the Mr. Stripeys. I don’t worry about removing the skins from the cherry tomatoes since their skins are not a tough as the larger tomatoes. After you remove the skins, add everything to a soup pot including the garlic, tomato juices and the leftover olive oil from the roasting pan. Simmer them with chicken broth, whole thyme leaves and about 1 tablespoon of chopped chipotle in adobo sauce or less if you don’t like it too spicy. After it simmers for about 10 minutes, use an immersion blender and blend the soup until it is smooth. Add the cream, sherry vinegar and salt & pepper to taste and the soup is ready to go. I like to top it with a dollop of sour cream. It helps to cool the heat from the chipotle. This soup pairs well with a Mexican style tuna fish sandwich. Follow your typical tuna salad recipe but leave out the pickle relish and add lime juice and cilantro. It complements the smoky tomato soup nicely.

Smoky Tomato Soup

4 cups Sun Sugar cherry tomatoes

10 Lemon Boys yellow tomatoes

5 Mr. Stripey pink & yellow tomatoes

2 large cloves of garlic, finely minced

¼ cup of olive oil

1 cup of chicken broth

1 Tablespoon of chopped chipotle or less if you want less heat

½ teaspoon of dried whole thyme leaves

1 cup of heavy cream

1 Tablespoon of sherry vinegar

 Salt & pepper to taste

Sour cream for garnish

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Core and cut the large tomatoes in half and just cut the cherry tomatoes in half no need to core them. Pour 2 tablespoons of olive oil each on 2 rimmed baking sheets. Add 1 large minced garlic clove to each baking sheet. Add the cherry tomato halves to one baking sheet and toss to coat with the olive oil and the minced garlic. Add the Yellow Boys and the Mr. Stripeys cut side down to the other rimmed baking sheet and move around so that the bottom of the sheet pan is covered in the olive oil and the garlic. Roast for 30 minutes.

Pour the roasted cherry tomatoes with the oil and the garlic into a soup pot. Remove the skins from the Yellow Boys and the Mr. Stripeys by just pinching the tops with a pair of tongs. The skins should remove easily. Add the Yellow Boys and the Mr. Stripeys to the soup pot with their juices, oil & garlic. Add the chicken broth, the chopped chipotle, the dried thyme leaves and simmer for about 10 minutes. Use an immersion blender and blend until the soup is smooth. Add the cream and fully incorporate into the soup then add the sherry vinegar and salt & pepper to taste. Spoon the soup into bowls and top with the sour cream. Serve immediately. This soup freezes well so freeze the leftovers.

Mexican Flavored Tuna Salad Sandwiches (makes 2 sandwiches)

5 oz can of white albacore tuna packed in water, drained

¼ cup of Duke’s Mayonnaise

Juice of 1 lime

¼ teaspoon white pepper

2 Tablespoons of chopped cilantro

Salt to taste

Sliced Whole Wheat Mountain Bread from the bakery

Mix the tuna, mayo, lime juice, cilantro, white pepper and salt to taste in a small bowl. Spread over sliced whole wheat Mountain bread. Serve immediately.