Soup's On: Feta, Chedda, Tomato & Peppa Soup
Lazy food blogger confession: I wanted to add all sorts of things to this soup but elected to leave it as is specifically because the title {mostly} rhymed. 'Cause that's just how things can go when you're short on dinner inspiration, or dinspiration (I love portmanteau even more than I love rhyming and alliteration...you could say I flove it, hey-o!).
Wow, I digress. I spent the last week visiting my parents in Phoenix soaking up the sun, cooking up a storm, and getting used to 80-degree temps. I half-expected it to be spring, heck summer, when I returned to the big Minneapple. I had all sorts of light, warm-weather dishes planned out in my mind, only to come home to weather that calls for tomato soup and a big blanket.
That's kind of the beauty of living in the Midwest, though. Would you ever feel like it's tomato soup weather in the sunny south? Rich, hearty dishes are most enjoyable on a freezing cold winter night. Snow days are meant for idling away the hours in front of a hot stove. And soup just seems silly when it's 90+ degrees out. That said, it sure is fun to spend the week cooking up all sorts of salads and slaws, and grilling the nights away at my parents house in the middle of a Midwest sprinter (that's spring-winter).
Feta, Chedda, Tomato & Peppa Soup
Serves: 2
Preparation Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
1 tbsp. olive oil
1/2 sweet onion, diced
1 14-oz. can cherry tomatoes*
4 peppadew peppers, chopped
1 tbsp. honey
1/3 c. tomato paste (double-concentrated)
1/2 c. cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 c. feta cheese (+ more for topping), crumbled (I used black pepper feta, but regular will work just fine and you can add extra black pepper if you desire)
2 c. water
1-2 c. your favorite broth (I used low-sodium chicken)*
small handful of fresh basil, minced*
salt/pepper, to taste
To Serve:
more feta cheese for topping
bread or rolls for dipping (I got these asiago cheese rolls at Turtle Bread Company)
*Notes:
See this previous post for info on canned cherry tomatoes, which you should just always keep on hand like it's bottled water before Y2K.
See this previous post for info on Better Than Bouillion, my favorite way to always have amazing broth on hand.
See this previous post for info on cheap, fresh basil.
Method:
1. Heat olive oil in a medium-sized soup pot. Add diced onion and saute until they become soft and somewhat transluscent. Then add can of cherry tomatoes and chopped peppadew peppers. Stir and add tomato paste and honey. Let saute a few minutes more.
2. Add the cheddar and feta cheeses to the pot and stir. Slowly add in water and keep stirring until the cheese have melted and there are no large chunks. Continue to let simmer until tomatoes have mostly broken down, stirring every few minutes.
3. This step is optional, but will make the consistency more soup-like, rather than a chunky sauce: Pour about 2/3 of the soup into a food processor or blender and blend until smooth. Pour back into the soup pot and then add about a cup of broth. Stir to combine and add more until the soup is your preferred consistency. Stir in minced basil and add to salt and pepper to taste. Top with more feta cheese to serve.
