Thick Tomato Soup with Chicken and Zucchini
I confess this tomato soup happened by accident. The idea came out of a disagreement over what to make: soup or stew. Soup is usually considered a liquid dish, half of it broth.
Soups hardly have ancient roots; most likely they appeared along with heatproof pots fit for boiling. What matters in a soup is the harmony of ingredients that creates the flavor, and boiling is just the cooking method. For example, many soup recipes simply pour broth over the prepared ingredients.
It's said that soup is a sign of a settled home: you need a hearth and pots. I don't quite agree. I read somewhere that nomadic peoples cook soups very successfully, despite having no permanent place to live.
There are countless kinds of soup. Hot and cold, even ice-cold, thin broths and decoctions, or thicker ones; the variety is enormous. Interestingly, as far as I know, there's no generally accepted classification of soups. It's very hard to assign a given soup to a type, given how complex and varied the ingredients can be. And it's hard to single out the main ingredient of a soup, too.
I've always been drawn to dishes that fill you up. That is, with one dish rather than a full three-course meal. Three in one, so to speak. Thick soups are a great option in that respect, tomato soup with beans, for example. That's also why I make Georgian kharcho thicker than usual.
So this time we ended up with a thick tomato soup. In the US they sell canned tomato soup, a very popular product, by the way. People eat tomato soup with sour cream, with saltine crackers, the way they eat Manhattan clam chowder, or with cheese. Well, each to their own.
We decided to make our tomato soup with chicken breast and zucchini. And very ripe tomatoes.
Ingredients
2 servings
- Chicken breast 1
- Young zucchini 1-2
- Carrot 1
- Onion 1
- Ripe tomatoes 3-4
- Garlic 1-2 cloves
- Olive oil 2 tbsp
- Salt, black pepper, sugar, dried herbs, fresh dill to taste
Step-by-step recipe
- First, let's make a purée from ripe, fresh tomatoes. If you don't have very ripe tomatoes, use a can of chopped tomatoes. Or, as a last resort, tomato juice, though I'm not a fan of that. Oh, and one important thing: you can't have too many tomatoes.
- Scald the tomatoes with boiling water and peel them. Cut them in half crosswise and scoop out the seeds with a spoon. Cut out the stem end. Put the flesh in a blender and blend to a purée. This will be the base of the tomato soup.
- Peel the onion and chop it finely. Peel and finely chop the garlic as well. Peel the carrot and cut it into small cubes.
- If the zucchini are young, there's no need to peel them. Just cut them into cubes. Or cut them lengthwise into quarters and then crosswise into 1.5 cm pieces. That works fine.
- Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a sauté pan and fry the chopped onion in it for 2-3 minutes.
- Add the garlic and diced carrot to the pan. Season lightly with salt and pepper and keep frying over medium heat for another 5 minutes, stirring.
- Cut the chicken breast into pieces. The size is up to you, but I suggest no bigger than the zucchini pieces. Add the chicken to the pan and fry until it turns white, usually 5-6 minutes. At this stage you can add aromatic herbs; they won't hurt. There are good Mediterranean or Italian herb blends. Add to taste.
- Add the diced zucchini to the pan.
- Pour a quarter cup of water into the pan and simmer the soup, covered, over low heat for 20-25 minutes. Keep in mind that the chicken and zucchini will release plenty of liquid, so don't add too much water.
- Add the tomato purée and 1 tsp sugar to the soup. If the soup seems too thick, add a little water.
- Simmer the tomato soup for 10 minutes once it comes to a boil.
- Ladle the soup into bowls and garnish with fresh dill.
| Serves: | 2 servings |
| Calories: | 45 |
| Prep: | 20 mins |
| Cook: | 50 mins |
| Total: | 1 h 10 mins |
| Category: | Soups |
| Cuisine: | European |
| Rating: |
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4.7
(6)
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