It has been a few weeks since I last stepped foot into a grocery store. I have been trying to use up all of the produce and pantry ingredients I have on hand before heading to the supermarket to restock on ingredients. During these few weeks, I have been trying my best to extend the life of the ingredients I do have on hand in order to reduce the number of times I have to pick up ingredients at the store. One ingredient I always have on hand is cherry tomatoes. They are perfect for topping on pizzas, tossing in salads, folding into frittatas, and pressing into focaccia. Whenever I’m close to running low, I like to replenish the tomatoes. During my last grocery trip, I purchased two large containers of rainbow cherry tomatoes. Almost three weeks later, I still have a ton of cherry tomatoes left. I’m surprised I haven’t used up all of the cherry tomatoes yet. Just this weekend, I noticed the skin on the cherry tomatoes beginning to wrinkle. This was my cue to make blistered cherry tomatoes soup as a way to use up the cherry tomatoes. Tomato soup is one of my favorite soups to make for a quick lunch or dinner. Before I started cooking, back in my early college years, I used to stock up on cans upon cans of tomato soup. Tomato soup was a cheap and convenient way to satisfy my hunger between classes. Pair the tomato soup with a grilled cheese sandwich and I was all set. I never thought I needed to learn how to make my own tomato soup until I actually made some from scratch. My experiments with crafting the perfect tomato soup evolved over time until I came across the perfect, wonderfully aromatic tomato soup. Versions of my tomato soup got progressively better and better after each attempt until I stopped buying canned tomato soup altogether. Making tomato soup from scratch was much better than buying canned. This weekend, I made a variation of my basic tomato soup by combining some garlic, onion, cherry tomatoes, stock, wine, and fresh basil in a pot. I trimmed part of the basil plant Kevin and I have been growing in our home to use in the soup. Just having soup was not enough. I had to have some sort of bread to serve alongside my soup. Since I didn’t have bread on hand, I took some time Sunday morning to bake a couple loaves of braided bread — one plain and one filled with raisins. The freshly baked fluffy bread was the perfect accompaniment to a warming soup. To complete the meal, I whizzed up two strawberry watermelon smoothies for a sweet treat. Homemade tomato soup, freshly baked bread, and fruity smoothies brightened up our weekend morning. Now, we just need to get back to continuing to spend quality time at home.
For the blistered tomato soup:
· 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
· 3 cloves garlic, minced
· ¼ onion, diced
· ½ teaspoon kosher salt
· 35-40 rainbow cherry tomatoes
· 1 sprig of fresh basil
· 2 tablespoons tomato paste
· ¼ cup vegetable stock
· ¼ cup white wine
· ¼ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
· ½ teaspoon granulated sugar
For the braided bread:
· 3½ cups all-purpose flour, plus additional for rolling out dough
· ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
· 1 cup milk, lukewarm
· 1½ teaspoons active dry yeast
· 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
· ¼ cup (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted
· 2 large eggs, room temperature
· 1 ounce of raisins
For the egg wash:
· 1 large egg
· 1 tablespoon of water
Directions:
To make the tomato soup:
1) Heat a pot on medium heat. Once hot, add the tablespoon of unsalted butter. When the butter has melted, add the minced garlic and diced onion. Sprinkle in the kosher salt. Cook until the onion becomes softened, about 5 minutes. Turn the heat up to medium high. Toss in the cherry tomatoes. Let the cherry tomatoes cook for about 7-10 minutes until they begin to blister. Drop in the sprig of basil. Stir in the tomato paste, vegetable stock, and white wine. Season with the freshly cracked black pepper and granulated sugar. Cook the tomato soup, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes. Use an immersion blender to blend all of the ingredients into a mostly smooth, slightly chunky soup. Serve hot.
To make the braided bread:
1) In a large bowl, combine the flour and kosher salt. Set aside.
2) In another bowl, combine the milk, active dry yeast, and sugar. Stir to combine. Let the mixture sit for five minutes to allow the yeast to activate.
3) Combine the milk, yeast, and sugar mixture into the large bowl with the dry ingredients. Stir to combine. Add the melted butter. Continue mixing the dough to combine. Fold in the eggs, one at a time, mixing well between each addition. Knead the dough in the bowl for 5 minutes. Add additional flour (sparingly) as needed. Place a large plate (or sheet of plastic wrap) over the bowl. Let the dough rest in the bowl for at least an hour.
4) While the dough is resting, line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
5) After an hour has passed, the dough should have risen in size. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Divide the dough in half.
6) To make the braided bread, divide one of the portions of dough into three portions. Roll out each of the three portions into long strips. Roll each of the strips into logs. Lay the three logs next to one another about ½ inch apart. Begin braiding the logs starting with the leftmost log. Bring it over the center log. The leftmost log will now become the center log. Bring the rightmost log over the center log (formerly the leftmost log). The rightmost log will now become the center log. Continue the process of braiding until a braided bread is formed. Transfer the braided bread to the parchment lined baking sheet.
7) To make the braided raisin bread, divide the other portion of dough into three portions. Roll out each of the three portions into long flat strips. Distribute the raisins evenly across the three strips. Pinch to close each of the strips. Roll each of the pinched strips into logs. Lay the three logs next to one another about ½ inch apart. Begin braiding the logs starting with the leftmost log. Bring it over the center log and the leftmost log will become the center log. Bring the rightmost log over the center log (formerly the leftmost log). The rightmost log will now become the center log. Continue the process of braiding until a braided bread is formed. Pinch the two ends to seal the edges. Transfer the braided bread to the parchment lined baking sheet.
*While making the braided breads, I ended up with a small chunk of dough after trimming off excess dough from the rolled logs. Instead of working the trimmed dough back into the logs, I made a slightly smaller knotted bread.
8) Make the egg wash by whisking together the egg and tablespoon of water. Brush the egg wash all over the two braided breads. Place the baking sheet with the two braided breads into the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes.
Takeaways: I’ve also used canned whole tomatoes and canned tomato purée to make tomato soup when I didn’t have cherry tomatoes on hand. I’ve even blended both fresh and canned tomatoes together when making tomato soup. Both of these variations have yielded very good tomato soup. The braided bread can be transformed into sweet or savory variations of bread by adding in additional ingredients. Check out my sweet and savory braided rolls for other spins on regular braided bread.