Best Italian Tomato Soup A La Mama Recipes

AMAZING ITALIAN TOMATO SOUP

Steps:

• Brown and drain your ground beef. Set it aside in a covered bowl until ready to use.
• Chop your onions, celery, and garlic finely.
• Slice your tomatoes discarding the end pieces.
• Lightly spray the bottom of a 5 quart (or larger) stewpot with cooking spray. Saute your onions, celery, and garlic until the celery is fork-tender.
• Add your chicken broth. If you prefer your soup with a thicker consistency, reduce the amount of chicken broth, or increase the amount of fire roasted tomatoes.
• Bring to a gentle boil, then add all other ingredients EXCEPT the ground beef. Continue to boil about 5 minutes.
• Reduce heat to simmer and add your browned ground beef. Omit the groud beef if you want a vegetarian soup.
• Cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes. Add salt, pepper, and more Italian Seasoning to suit your taste preferences.
• Serve with a variety of toppings on the side which your guests can add on their own. Shredded Italian cheeses, grated Parmesan Cheese, Chopped Spring Onions, and Seasoned Bread Crumbs work well.
• Your guests will think you were born in Sicily as they warm up their taste buds with a bowl of your soup.

ITALIAN TOMATO SOUP A LA MAMA

Steps:

• Heat the butter in a pan. Add onion and green pepper, cover and cook for 5 minutes. Add flour and stir.
• Add stock, tomatoes and tomato puree. Simmer for 15 minutes. Puree soup and pass through a sieve.
• Return to pan, season with salt and pepper. Add pasta 10 minutes before serving. Simmer and stir occasionally. Add horseradish before serving.
• Garnish with sour cream and parsley. Serve immediately.

PAPPA AL POMODORO / CLASSIC ITALIAN TOMATO SOUP

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a large stock pot over medium heat. Add the onions, carrots, fennel, and garlic. Cook over medium-low heat for 10 minutes, until tender.
• Add the ciabatta cubes and cook for 5 more minutes.
• Place the tomatoes in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade and process until coarsely chopped. Add the tomatoes to the pot along with the chicken stock, red wine, basil, 1 T salt, and 1 1/2 t pepper.
• Bring the soup to a boil, lower the heat and allow to simmer, partially covered for 45 minutes.
• MEANWHILE: Preheat oven to 375°F.
• TOPPING:.
• In a large bowl, put the reserved ciabatta bread cubes, pancetta and whole basil leaves in the bowl and drizzle with olive oil. Toss to coat.
• On a lined sheet pan large enough for all ingredients, place the ingredients in a single layer, Be sure the basil leaves are flat. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
• Bake until the cubes are toasted, pancetta crispy and basil leaves turn dark & crisp. This may take 15-20 minutes.
• Check on your soup. If the soup is too lumpy for you you can smash with a wooden spoon, potato masher or use a submersion blender to break up the bread cubes. Alternately you can puree in batches in a food processor or blender. Blend to desired consistency. I prefer a more rustic presentation.
• *Take care to only fill the blender or food processor 1/3 when you puree HOT soup.
• Turn up the heat to rewarm if necessary. At this point check for seasoning. Add more salt and pepper as needed.
• Stir in parmesan cheese, top with basil leaf, pancetta and bread cubes.
• Freezes well.

ITALIAN TOMATO FLORENTINE SOUP

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a heavy saucepan.
• Add the onion and garlic and cook until soft, stirring occasionally to avoid sticking.
• Add the whole tomatoes(crushing them by hand as you add them to the pot), diced tomatoes, broth, spinach, wine and herbs. Bring to a boil.
• Reduce the heat and simmer 35 minutes.
• Add the prosciutto and simmer 10 minutes longer.
• Meanwhile, cut the bread into 3/4 inch slices and place them at the bottom of the serving bowls. (For an added flavor, toast the bread slightly and rub with a slice of garlic.) Sprinkle the top of each slice with cheese.
• Carefully spoon the soup over the bread, completely covering the slice by at least an inch, and garnish with more of the Romano cheese.
• Leftovers are even better the second day, and freeze well.

PAPPA AL POMODORO

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a large stockpot over medium heat. Add the onions, carrots, fennel, and garlic and cook over medium-low heat for 10 minutes, until tender. Add the ciabatta cubes and cook for 5 more minutes. Place the tomatoes in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade and process just until coarsely chopped. Add the tomatoes to the pot along with the chicken stock, red wine, basil, 1 tablespoon salt, and 1 1/2 teaspoons pepper. Bring the soup to a boil, lower the heat, and allow to simmer, partially covered, for 45 minutes.
• Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• For the topping, place the ciabatta cubes, pancetta, and basil on a sheet pan large enough to hold them in a single layer. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and toss well. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 20 to 25 minutes, until all the ingredients are crisp. The basil leaves will turn dark and crisp, which is perfectly fine. Reheat the soup, if necessary, beat with a wire whisk until the bread is broken up. Stir in the Parmesan and taste for seasoning. Serve hot sprinkled with the topping and drizzled with additional olive oil.