Friday, September 23, 2011

Warm and Spicy Cashew Tomato Soup

This is a great spicy tomato soup, made better by plenty of roasting time in the oven for the 'maters. I mixed halved Romas and whole grape tomatoes on the same sheet pan and roasted for about 2.5 hrs. I did take the grape tomatoes out at about 1.5 or 2 hrs. though.
I made "croutons" of spicy sauteed cauliflower florettes and used a high powered blender for the soup instead of the suggested immersion blender as I wanted a smoother and creamier soup.
When it came to incorporating the yogurt, I whisked it in a large bowl and added the hot soup a spoonful at a time whisking all the while, until it was tempered enough to not curdle. Instead of serving with grilled cheesers, I toasted some whole wheat naan topped with cave-aged Gruyere and nigella seeds. Yum!

Warm and Spicy Cashew Tomato Soup:
(as found on Eats Well With Others)

1 1/2 lb tomatoes (I used mostly Roma tomatoes with a good handful of small grape tomatoes)
2 tsp olive oil
salt, as necessary
1 small onion, sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp minced ginger
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp chipotle chili powder
1/4 cup salted cashews (I used a Thai spiced cashew that I found in the bulk section of the grocery store)
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 1" piece of cinnamon stick
1 cardamom pod, bruised
4 cups water
1/3 cup nonfat greek yogurt

Preheat oven to 300.
Cut the tomatoes in half lengthwise, gently tossing with 1 tsp of the oil.
Sprinkle with salt.
Lay the tomatoes on a baking sheet lined with foil, cut side up.
Bake for an hour (or longer if you have the time…again, I went 2.5 hrs for the Romas).
Meanwhile, in a large pot, heat oil on medium and saute the onion until it is a nice, even golden brown, stirring often.
Once browned, add the garlic, ginger, garam masala, coriander, chili powder, cashews, and tomato paste.
Cook for a few minutes until nice and fragrant, stirring often.
Add cinnamon, cardamom pod, and water, making sure to scrape the bottom of the pot and get up any browned bits.
When the tomatoes are finished roasting, add them to the soup and stir. Simmer gently for 30 minutes. Remove the cinnamon stick and cardamom pod.
Remove soup to a blender (only fill half full and put a towel over the top holding down firmly to prevent wearing hot soup), and blend in batches. If you have a high powered blender you can probably get away with blending the whole batch at once making sure to start at a very slow speed...I did.
In a bowl large enough to hold all the soup, slowly whisk a few tbsp of soup into the yogurt. Keep adding soup slowly, whisking all the while until the soup and yogurt are fully combined as the yogurt will curdle if it gets too hot at once.
Gently reheat if necessary, though I didn't bother...
Serve with something good and cheesy...grill cheese, or cheese naan for dipping.
If you'd like to make some cauliflower "croutons" steam small florettes until just tender then sprinkle with a bit of ground cumin, ground coriander, ground black pepper and sea salt. Toss with a little olive oil, cook on med.-high heat in a saute pan til nice and toasty.

2 comments:

Mike said...

DROOL!!!!

Joanne said...

Yay! I'm so glad you made and liked this soup! It's definitely one of my end-of-summer favorites now. The naan/gruyere combo that you paired it with sounds delicious!