Spontaneous Tomato Soup

Last summer I had a pretty good crop of tomatoes and so I canned up a couple dozen jars. This winter we have been using them to make tomato soup.

I was on a Ravelry forum for cheap eats using leftovers and mentioned my soup recipe. A woman responded calling it Spontaneous Tomato Soup. We have been using the name ever since.

So here is what’s required: a quart jar of tomatoes and a 15 oz can of tomato sauce to start. Here is why it is spontaneous: all those leftover spoonfuls of rice, pasta and veggies from the week go in the pot along with whatever herbs and spices move your spirit. The knitter on Ravelry told me she kept a storage container in her fridge and just added those leftover spoonfuls to it after each meal. Then she made soup with it at least once a week.

This is what I do: dice a small onion, a couple cloves or garlic and a little green pepper. Put them in the pot with a little olive oil and cook until soft.Add the tomatoes. Season with salt, pepper, hot pepper, basil and maybe cumin and cilantro. Then add small amounts of whatever was leftover that week. For us this usually means the quarter cups of cooked rice, broccoli, spinach, etc. There might be a small piece of leftover meat but not often. Sometimes I add the small serving of leftover soup - chicken or beef stew. If I don’t have rice then I add a few tablespoons of orzo. It all depends on the leftovers and this is what makes it spontaneous.


Email me at:

pat_higgins@mac.com