End of Summer

So it's been a little while because school's been starting back resulting in a very busy time of the year. But I feel that I need to take note of the last good crop of the summer. A bit earlier this month my family received some tomatoes from a friend, and it was his last crop this summer. So while it was very kind of him, we ended up having a lot of leftover tomatoes that we had no clue what to do with. And so, after much debate, we decided to fix homemade tomato soup.
It was the most wonderful soup that I have ever had! I mean sure Campbell has it moments, but this was simply divine. Coming from Georgia, it may have seemed to hot to have soup, but this was not the case. We served it with a roast beef sandwich in pita bread with alfalfa sprouts and horseradish sauce. We also served cheese straws with it which only improved the soup. And because I loved this soup, I thought that I would share it with you. :)

Tomato Soup

8 cups fresh, August tomatoes, peeled and seeded

NOTE: I strained my peelings and garnished 1 cup fresh juice.

Save it!


1 large yellow onion, chopped finely
6 stalks celery, very finely chopped

Cook the above ingredients in a saucepan for 20 minutes until the veggies are soft. Strain them in order to separate the pulp from the stock, pressing gently to extract as much liquid as possible. As a result, I had approximately 5 cups of cooked tomato pulp ( including onions & celery) and 4 cups tomato stock.

Place the stock only in a small saucepan and simmer until reduced by half. Set aside. Puree the pulp in a food processor. Set aside.

In a large pot, melt 6 Tbs butter; and add 6 Tbs flour, stirring with a wire whisk until well-blended and smooth. Cook until this roux turns slightly brown. Dont walk away! This will burn easily.

Add 5 cups beef stock. (I cheated and made mine with bouillon cubes. This is why I dont have to salt the soup in the end.) Stir the roux quickly as you add the stock to create a smooth base. Add 2 tsp sugar and 1 tsp paprika. Cook over medium heat until the mixture starts to boil.

Reduce to low heat and add the tomato pulp. Stir well. Cook for 5 minutes without boiling. Thin with the tomato stock (I used the two cups mentioned at the beginning of the recipe.) I suppose one could thin with a little warm milk or cream, making the result *Cream of Tomato Soup*, but I'm getting off topic.

I hope that you enjoy as much as I did! Happy Summer!