An added Flavour
When I see the word sun-dried, I visualize halved tomatoes, drying on a huge screen, in the sun (it can take many days to dry them). But they can also be dried in the oven or in a dehydrator. It takes about 8 to 14 kilos of fresh tomatoes to make one kilo of sun-dried tomatoes. (No wonder they are so expensive). If you have patience and time, you can also make your own sun-dried tomatoes at home.
Once dried, they can be stored in a vacuum-sealed bag in a cool dry place or can be preserved in olive oil, along with other herbs like rosemary, basil, paprika and garlic. Sun-dried tomatoes are also available in form of pastes or purees. They are high in lycopene, antioxidants and vitamin c, and low in sodium, fat and calories. I would say they are the ultimate snack for those who want to slim, in the middle, like me.
Sun-dried tomatoes add great flavour to a variety of foods, salads, soups and snacks. Today I want to share the recipe for tomato soup, with sun-dried tomatoes. It’s very easy to make and tastes delicious. I hope you enjoy the soup.
Ingredients
- 30g (2 tablespoons, 1oz) unsalted butter
- 2 shallots, finely chopped
- 100g (4oz. ) sun-dried tomatoes, drained, and chopped ( ½ cup packed)
- 540ml (19 fl oz) can diced tomatoes or an equivalent of fresh tomatoes, skinned, seeded and
- chopped, preferably Italian plum tomatoes (Roma)- I used a can of 540ml Gusto diced tomatoes, spicy red pepper flavour.
- 2½ cups (625ml) chicken broth (vegetarians use vegetable broth)
- 5ml (1 teaspoon) brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste, mixed with 3 tablespoons of water
- 200ml table (single, 18%) cream
- Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
- Chives, cilantro or parsley to garnish
Please, always remember to assemble ingredients before you start.
Melt butter in a pan (pot).
Add shallots and sauté 5 minutes until soft.
Add the sun-dried tomatoes, cook one minute,
then add diced tomatoes and cook 5 minutes stirring from time to time.
Add 400ml (2⅓cups) stock (broth), bring to the boil
and simmer for 25 minutes.
Remove from heat, cool briefly, then blend to your desired consistency (it took time to blend the sun-dried tomatoes with my hand blender, to a smooth consistency).
Return the soup to the pan (pot), add tomato paste, heat gently until piping hot (if too thick, add more stock). Season with salt and pepper.
Stir in cream and brown sugar, adjust seasoning and heat without boiling, until piping hot. (add more sugar if needed)
Serve hot, sprinkled with Parmesan cheese or croutons. Garnish with chives, cilantro or parsley.
Whether you eat, drink or slurp your soup. I hope you’ll enjoy this soup
I really enjoyed eating the soup
Sun Dried Tomato Soup
Preparation time: 10 minutes Cooking time: 45 minutes Serves: 4 (makes 1200ml soup-40 fl oz)
Ingredients
- 30g (2 tablespoons, 1oz) unsalted butter
- 2 shallots, finely chopped
- 100g (4oz. ) sun-dried tomatoes, drained, and chopped ( ½ cup packed)
- 540ml (19 fl oz) can diced tomatoes or an equivalent of fresh tomatoes, skinned, seeded and chopped, preferably Italian plum tomatoes (Roma)- I used a can of 540ml Gusto diced tomatoes, spicy red pepper flavour.
- 2½ cups (625ml) chicken broth (vegetarians use vegetable broth)
- 5ml (1 teaspoon) brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste, mixed with 3 tablespoons of water
- 200ml table (single, 18%) cream
- Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
- Chives, cilantro or parsley to garnish
Instructions
- Melt butter in a pan (pot). Add shallots and sauté 5 minutes until soft.
- Add the sundried tomatoes, cook one minute, then add diced tomatoes and cook 5 minutes stirring from time to time. Add 500ml (2 cups) stock, increase heat, bring to the boil and simmer for 25 minutes.
- Remove from heat, then blend to your desired consistency.
- Return the soup to the pan (pot), add tomato paste, heat gently until piping hot (if too thick, add more stock and remember you have 200ml cream to add at the next step). Season with salt and pepper.
- Stir in cream and brown sugar, adjust seasoning and heat without boiling.
- Serve hot, sprinkled with Parmesan cheese or croutons. Garnish with chives, cilantro or parsley.
Points to Note:
- For stock, I dissolved one Aurora (basil and garlic) bouillon in 2 cups hot water.
- One sun-dried tomato in oil is about 10-15g depending on the size. You’ll need about 10 of them.
myfavouritepastime.com
My Favourite Pastime 
[…] decided to make sun-dried tomato soup ala My Favorite Pastime. I thought it was the best time to enjoy the rarely found sun-dried tomato. I managed to find some […]
Hari thank yo for making this soup. YOur soup looks excellent! I hope you enjoyed the soup? Have a fantastic weekend!
Liz
[…] Adapted from My Favourite Pastime […]
Thank you so much for adapting the soup. I hope you enjoyed it. I love sundried tomatoes. They are the best things that ever happened!
Liz
I made this over the weekend and am sooooo pleased! This goes into my “magic book” (handwritten recipe book), which only contains the best of the best!
Thank you for making this soup. I am glad you were sooo pleased with it and I feel very honoured that it went into your ‘magic book’ for best of best. You’ve made my day for sure. Wish you a wonderful week!
Sun-dried tomato soup? OH! WOW! I NEED to try this…
It really is very nice. Sun-dried tomatoes adds magic to food. It’s one of my top ingredients. Thanks for wowing it and have a happy day!
Wow, this looks absolutely delicious!!
Tastes delicious too. Thank you for visiting me and have lovely weekend!
Your vegetarian version of a sun-dried tomato soup sounds really delish. Have you tried Parmela parmesan (gourmet)? It’s vegan and gluten-free and yum!
Hi,
Thank you for complimenting. I have not tried armela parmesan (gourmet), but you’ve raised my curiosity and I shall find out more about it. Thanks for visiting me!
Looks great!
Thank you. Have a lovely day!
OMG you’re incredible, those flavours! Brava!
Thank you. Are you not yet asleep? I’m really going to sleep now…
I went to sleep right after posting the comment. Have a great day Liz =)
I finally went to sleep, 30 minutes before 4.00am. I could barely lift my head in the morning. I have to stop burning the midnight oil…Dr. Oz says 7 hours sleep is good for us! i have to start taking him seriously!
Wow I generally can only do five hours, six when I’m lucky!
Once a week, I get a good 9 hours sleep but that’s not the recommended way. I just have too many things I’m trying to accomplish and the day is just not enough for me. LOL.
Oh Liz, I so get it!!!! I am involved in so so much!
Looks delicious! 🙂 Do you have any other sun-dried tomato recipes that you like?
I have many sun-dried tomato recipes but i’ve only posted this rice, so far, Maybe with time I shall post more of them. Thanks for visiting me! Have a pleasant week!
https://myfavouritepastime.com/2013/05/23/rice-with-beans-and-sun-dried-tomatoes/
Thanks have a pleasant week too! 🙂
I must try this! I love tomato soup and sun dried tomatoes. Somehow I never thought to put them together. Brilliant!
They are a great combination. You should try. Hope you are okay? Enjoy the rest of the week!
I will definitely try this soon. I just ate my first tomato from the garden tonight. It was so incredible! For some reason mine are just coming in, everyone else is done!
Omg lucky you. Enjoy the tomatoes, while they last and best wishes to your family!
Yes- a winner – simple succulence in every sip….
Hey Keith,
you’re sure enjoying your holidays. Enjoy the Lake District and Best Wishes to your family!
I’ve only had sun-dried tomatoes in restaurants and beejezus, it’s like 73963 tomatoes packed into a tiny wrinkled mass. They are very expensive but I believe they are worth the $$!
Frankly speaking, I think they are worth every dollar spent on them. I love cooking other things with them too-like pasta and rice. I have a recipe for rice with sun-dried tomatoes, here.
Thanks for visiting me. I’m heading over to your blog right now to see, what’s cooking. Have a lovely evening,
Liz,
I have heard about sun-dried tomatoes a million times but I have actually never encounter the real thing. Someone I know, who lives abroad called me a hillbilly for that, L-O-L.
“Seriously? You’ve never seen a sun-dried tomato? Which forest do you live in?”
HI Hari,
I think that was very mean of that person. The world is full of so many things, nobody could ever know them all. I bet he doesn’t know 80% of the foods served in Indonesia so does that mean he’s a hillbilly? I wouldn’t bother with him.
Anyway back to the topic.It’s basically fresh tomatoes, cut into halves, and dried slowly in the sun. Click on that link in the post to see more details on sun-dried tomatoes.
The ones preserved in Olive oil are the best in my opinion. I am sure they are available in indonesia too. Do you have an Italian side of town? If you do, that’s where you’d find them or in a supermarket that sells imported produce. Please let me know if you manage to find them.
Thanks, Hari, for being here and wish you a wonderful day!
Hi Liz, I have opened the link and I plan to make some.
I don’t think there is any shop in this province selling sun-dried tomatoes. Maybe I can ask my sister to send me some from Jakarta. They got lots of shops selling imported foods. 😀
Thank you for sharing the link and this great post! I’m super excited right now! (Tomatoes are super cheap at the moment! 5000 rupiahs a kilograms. That’s around 50 US cents!)
I have never really known exactly where you live. In that case your sister in Jakarta is the best bet. Those shops with imported goods, is the best place to look for the tomatoes.
You’re lucky to be buying one Kg of tomatoes at $0.50. That is so damn cheap. Please update me on what transpires. Thanks and have a great day. I’m soon heading off to bed!
I love sundried tomatoes and this looks lovely! I would like this for lunch! Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Hi Jean,
It’s nice to see you. I wish you were here to share the soup with me, or perhaps there were some Bentos to go with it. Thanks for popping by and have a wonderful day!
A bowl of tomato soup is such a great lunch, Liz. I used to make my own but lost the recipe ages ago. Yours here, using sun-dried tomatoes, sounds really good. WIthout a dehydrator, though, I doubt I’ll ever dry my own tomatoes. I’ll buy them and save myself the hassle. Good job, too, by the way, with the photos. Your soup couldn’t look better. 🙂
Hi John,
It’s always a pleasure to see you.
I love eating soups, and yes, I usually do it at lunch time. I am not about to try sun-drying tomatoes, either. I am way to lazy to venture into certain things.
I look forward to the risotto though. I’ve never attempted to make some, even though I eat a lot of rice. One of these fine days I shall be cooking something from Bartolini Kitchens. Enjoy the rest of the week and Polar Bear hugs to Max
This soup looks wonderful. I’ve never dried tomatoes. Thankfully I can buy them. Great information and thank you for the recipe!
I have never dried tomatoes either and I don’t plan on drying them any time soon. The process seems so tedious and time-consuming, for a lazy person, like me. I’d much rather, buy them, just like you. Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!
oh my goodness this looks phenomenal. so creative, too. never thought to make soup like this but it makes perfect sense. thanks for the inspiration!
Thank you for showering me with praise. I hope one day, you’ll make the many soups on My Favourite Pastime. Have a lovely day!
Liz! You are singing my song. Matter of fact I might just dry some of the tomatoes I just bought. Thank you for sharing your recipe/post.
Thanks, Janet. I have never tried to dry tomatoes. I think I’m too much on the lazy side. Rather just buy and complain about the price. Have a wonderful day!
I like this idea… I would never stick them into the soup, but we might just try it…
Thanks. Have a great day!
looks amazing! Ive only recently started to like/crave sun-dried tomatoes so this could be ultimate meal!
Quick question, could this be done without the shallots? (cant eat onions/shallots) Or can leeks be used?
Hi Whippie Girl,
Of course you can omit the shallots and use leeks or even celery or even just omit them all together. I doubt it will change the taste because the tomatoes, diced and sun-dried are the main ingredient here. I have made this soup several times and each time I do it, I vary something. Last week I added some fresh herbs and garlic and substituted the cream with coconut milk and it still tasted nice. Another time I made it spicy, with cayenne pepper.
Just vary ingredients, and see what works for you. Thanks and have a pleasant day.
I love tomato soup this looks delicious!
Thank you. It was delicious. I really enjoyed eating it. Wish you a fantastic week!
Liz, You are so talented. It really is a treat to visit your blog. This soup looks amazing, and I can taste its rich flavor!
Thank you Fae for your kind words. I really feel very honoured. The soup tasted very nice, while it lasted. Wish you a pleasant week!
Very nice!
Thank you! Best wishes!
Oh my! this must taste amazing! I make tomato soup often, but never tried sundried tomato in it, I’m making this 100% next week!! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Frankly speaking, this soup tasted really nice. If you ever make tomato soup again, please make sure you throw in some sun-dried. They add a lot of flavour and kick to the soup. Thanks for stopping by and wish you the best of the week!
Looks awesome. Will try it soon.
Hey girl how are you? thanks for stopping by. Have a lovely day!
I’m wondering when you sleep? LOL, I had just gone to the Reader and there you were. You are so right about the taste explosion from sun dried tomatoes. I used to buy them, now I get them from my son who grows them and dries them – some in oil, some just stay in the dry state and boy do they ever taste great when used in soups and stews. Tomato soup was always my “go to” soup when I was feeling under the weather as a child, and to this day I see it as my comfort food. Give me a bowl of tomato soup and a few crackers and I’m a happy camper! So glad you posted this today! It’s a little cooler and we are promised some much needed rain for tomorrow. It might just have to be a tomato soup kinda day! Thank you Liz.
Hi Sandy,
I usually sleep very late. Today I slept at 3.00am. After finishing with blogging an episode of criminal minds aired and I got hooked LOL.
What about you? what were doing hanging around the reader at 1.00 am? Oh no it’s 1-00am minus three hours so that would be 10.00pm, a decent hour of course. You caught me on this one!!!
What does your son do? last time you came back with a bag of raspberries, now he is growing and drying tomatoes. I wish I had a relative who could pass on fresh ingredients the way your son does.
I love, love tomato soup. It’s usually so easy to make and I can always twist around the ingredients to suit me. Last time I made this soup, I added coconut milk instead of cream and it still tasted very nice. The sun-dried tomatoes are never substituted. It’s what make the soup have a kick.
Have a pleasant day, Sandy, I just woke up an hour ago. Best wishes!