A bright, sunny, sweet and creamy yellow tomato soup with fresh oregano and blue cheese.
After my mom brought me a BIG bunch of yellow taxi tomatoes from her garden, I canned all the ripe tomatoes and left the partly green ones in the box to ripen a bit more. But … tomatoes have a way of sneakily ripening while life is happening and before I knew it, my “green” tomatoes were on the verge of over-ripe. It was time to take some emergency tomato action or risk losing this precious batch of tomatoes!
In case you’re curious what a “taxi tomato” is, they are pretty little yellow heirloom tomatoes, named “taxi” tomatoes because of the yellow color. A taxi tomato is nice and round, quite a bit bigger than a cherry tomato but a little smaller than your typical garden tomatoes. Here’s a shot of my very last taxi tomato, the one I saved for the photos:
As I was considering what to do with these sweet little yellow tomatoes, I looked through my blog and found some old tomato soup recipes. I found myself returning to my tomato soup roots, my very first tomato soup recipe. The tomato soup recipe that convinced me tomato soup is really a beautiful thing.
Because it is.
It’s hard for me to believe that once upon a time, I didn’t like tomato soup. I think really what I didn’t like was the mass-produced canned tomato soup that tastes kind of like canned ketchup with milk in it. My son likes that crap. Not me.
For me, I want a REAL tomato soup, made from fresh garden tomatoes, garlic, onions, broth and herbs, perhaps with a little cream or sherry or cheese (or, even better, all three). A soup that tastes like summer. A soup that I would gladly eat hot even if it’s 100 degrees outside because it makes my taste buds sing.
Did you know taste buds could sing? Oh yes … and they can dance too. At least in my world they can.
But yeah. Let’s get back to the soup recipe. I updated my old blue cheese tomato soup recipe because I’ve learned a couple tricks over my years of making real tomato soup:
- A little healthy fat in the soup makes it taste so much better … plus it’s more satisfying and filling and it’s better for you, too.
- A bit of Greek cream cheese (or Neufchatel) adds a wonderful creaminess to the soup.
- A Bay leaf! I use a simple bay leaf in pretty much all my soups. It adds a depth of flavor that makes it taste more like a real soup.
The other thing I did was to add better than bouillon instead of broth, so the soup is a little more tomato-flavored and slightly thicker.
Don’t have any taxi tomatoes? That’s okay. Use whatever color tomatoes your garden (or farmer’s market) brings you. Orange or red tomatoes or even the sweet Aunt Ruby green tomatoes would all make a tasty tomato soup. Your eyes will still get to revel in whatever beautiful color your tomatoes bring to the soup, and your taste buds can start singing.
Pro Tip: If you want to keep soup for later, while it’s still hot pour it into clean, sterile mason jars, then add a sterile lid and screw on the top. As the soup cools, you’ll most likely hear a “pop” … the jar is sealing. Store the soup in the fridge. It will keep much longer in the sealed jars.
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Taxi Tomato Blue Cheese Soup
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 1 1/2 - 2 quarts of soup 1x
Ingredients
- 2.5 – 3 lb. yellow taxi tomatoes (or other fresh, sweet garden tomatoes)
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil (best if using the olive oil from marinated cheese)
- 4 cloves garlic, peeled & chopped
- 1/2 of a large sweet onion
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 teaspoon chicken or vegetable Better than Bouillon
- 2 oz. blue cheese, crumbled
- 2 oz. Greek cream cheese or Neufchatel
- 1/2 cup fat free half and half (or regular half and half or whole milk)
- 1 – 2 Tablespoons of fresh oregano
Instructions
- Bring a pot of water to boil on the stove top. Drop the tomatoes in, a few at a time and let them bathe for 30 – 60 seconds. Use tongs to remove them and repeat with the rest of the tomatoes. Pour the water out. Let the tomatoes cool, then pull the peels off and cut out the stem area.
- Heat the olive oil in the pot, then add the garlic and onion and saute until the onion is very soft and the garlic is fragrant.
- Add the tomatoes, bay leaf and bouillon and stir to mix. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool slightly.
- Remove the bay leaf and pour the soup into a blender, then add the cold cheeses, cream and oregano. Cover and blend until smooth. Add salt & pepper to taste. Return to the pot and heat just until hot but DO NOT BOIL.
- Serve hot with a little drizzle of olive oil on top, some cooked, chopped bacon (if desired) and a few fresh oregano leaves.
Notes
RECIPE SOURCE: http://www.sumptuousspoonfuls.com/
© Copyright 2018, Sumptuous Spoonfuls. All images & content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to publish any of my images, please ask first. If you want to republish this recipe as your own, please re-write the recipe in your own words or link back to this post for the recipe.
Looking for more tomato soup recipes?
Here are some of my faves:
- Cardamom Curry Eggplant Tomato Soup
- Sriracha Parmesan Heirloom Tomato Soup
- Harissa Tomato Soup with Cheese Crisps
- Sausage Zucchini Tomato Soup
- Roasted Eggplant and Tomato Soup with Fresh Herbs
- Sherried Tomato Basil Soup
- Creamy Romesco Tomato Lentil Soup
- Tomato White Cheddar Gnocchi Soup
- Roasted Tomato Bacon Soup
- Heirloom Tomato Bruschetta Soup
- Roasted Poblano Tomato Basil Soup – Ally’s Kitchen
Need more soup recipes?
Here are some more great soups from me and my foodie friends:
- Sherried Butternut Soup with Bacon
- Pepperoni Soup with Zucchini & Kale
- Chinese Hot & Sour Soup
- German Onion Soup (Zwiebelsuppe)
- King Ranch Chicken Soup
- Slow Cooker 15 Bean and Ham Soup – Cooking with Mary & Friends
- Cabbage Roll Soup – ChinDeep
- Ukrainian Borscht – The Black Peppercorn
- Creamy Southwestern Taco Soup – Moore or Less Cooking Blog
- Chicken Jambalaya Soup – That Skinny Chick can Bake
