Rosemary tomato soup and sourdough bread

Last summer I roasted the Roma  tomatoes that I grew in the garden. Below is a link to another post on this blog for roasting tomatoes. I have used them to make tomato soup and spaghetti sauce. This recipe produces a very thick soup/sauce. If you want a more liquid soup, add more chicken stock. If you process the cooked ingredients in a blender you will get a smoother soup, using the food processor preserves some of the texture. If you don't have roasted tomatoes, used canned.

1 leek
1 carrot
1 onion
3 cloves of garlic
sprig of fresh rosemary
canned or frozen roasted tomatoes

Peel the carrot and onion. Remove the dark green part of the leek and chop the white and light green parts.

Dice the carrot and onion.

Peel and dice the cloves of garlic.

1 tsp minced rosemary (mince the rosemary, then measure)
3 cloves of garlic minced
2 quart bags of frozen Roma tomatoes
1 14.5 oz can of petite diced tomatoes
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon olive oil

2 teaspoons salt (The chicken stock I use is home made and does not have any salt added. If you use commercial chicken stock, add less salt)
1/2 tsp pepper

3 cups of chicken stock

In a large pot, melt the butter and olive oil.

Add the diced carrot, leek and onion. Saute until tender but do not let them brown.

Add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes.

Add the minced rosemary, salt and pepper and cook for 2 minutes.

Add the 2 quart bags of frozen roasted tomatoes, no need to thaw them, just add to the pot.
Add 3 cups of chicken stock, bring to a boil and turn down to simmer.

When the carrots and leek are tender, process the soup in a food processor or blender in batches. Return the soup to the pot, adjust seasonings if necessary and you are ready to serve.

If you like a creamy tomato soup, add some milk or cream to get the consistency desired.

And now for the bread!

The sourdough bread was made with the starter made from scratch, hereafter referred to as "George" to distinguish him from Marx and Engels who reside in the fridge. George was started on January 16th and has been fed twice a day since and is residing on the kitchen counter.
The sour tang is developing nicely.

The only ingredients to make this starter were flour and water. You begin with a whole wheat flour and spring water, then feed with all purpose flour and water. No yeast is added. Fermentation is a wonderful thing!


The King Arthur website has information for making a sourdough starter and recipes for making sourdough bread. The King Arthur site has lots of great recipes and a blog about sourdough.

Just before putting the loaf of sourdough into the oven, mist it with water and cut slits with a sharp serrated knife.

After 25 minutes at 425 degrees, the loaves are golden and smell fabulous!












These loaves rose more and had a softer texture than the first two I baked. One thing to remember about sourdough baking according to the folks at King Arthur, "it is more art than science". All I know is that it is yummy!