Tomato Orange Soup

New Year’s Eve wasn’t super exciting for me. When the clock struck midnight, I was at work, miserable with a stuffed up nose and a raspy voice. Even worse, while I would rather have been at home suffering in bed, I knew that was what Mr. Sparklepants and the Sparkletots were doing..suffering with their plugged up nasal passages and sore throats in their nice cozy beds.

A co-worker suggested that I make some soup. My options were canned chicken noodle or canned tomato. While these worked in a pinch, I kept thinking of what I really wanted.. Tomato Orange Soup from Elephants Delicatessen in Portland, Oregon. I lived down the street from this place a few years ago, and this soup was one of my favorite things (even though all their food is delish!) But being stuck in Arizona, on New Year’s Eve, the best I could do was google the soup and hope there was a recipe out there somewhere.  And there was!! 2011 is going to be a great year.

Elephants Tomato Orange Soup

½ cup unsalted butter (1 stick)

½ medium onion, diced

2 (14 ½ ounce) cans diced tomatoes

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon cracked black pepper

¼ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon dried thyme

1 cup fresh orange juice

½ cup heavy cream

In a saucepan, melt butter; add onion and sauté until translucent. Add tomatoes, salt, pepper, baking soda and thyme. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer uncovered about 15 minutes or until slightly thickened.

Puree in a food processor or blender; strain through a sieve or food mill. Return to saucepan and stir in orange juice. At this point, the soup can be refridgerated until ready to serve.

At serving time, add the whipping cream and heat gently, stirring constantly, bringing to a simmer and adjust seasonings in necessary. Extra cream may be drizzled on top of the soup immediately before serving for decorative effect.

I used ¼ teaspoon ground thyme (since I didn’t have any of the dried stuff) and a ¼ cup of heavy cream and ¼ cup milk (just to reduce a bit of the fat content) without any noticeable difference in flavor. And I didn’t strain it. I just kind of forgot. oops.

Tomatoes and orange juice..vitamin C heaven.  And it’s flavorful enough that you can taste it..even when you can’t taste anything!

Recipe found here

Linked up at Bargain Hoot Eats and Treats Thursday