Video Transcript

Hi, I'm Liza Schoenfein, author of the Blog Life, Death & Dinner. And I'm here in my kitchen in Harlem, New York. Today, I'm going to show you how to make roasted tomato soup with Parmesan wafer. First, the first thing we do, is I'm going to cut an onion. And this is, I'm going to saute an onion and I'm going to add roasted tomatoes to the onion. And the roasted tomatoes, I actually made earlier. Almost finished here with my onion. And now, what I'm going to do, is I'm going to take the onion and add it to my pot with some olive oil, about two tablespoons. And now, I'm going to transfer my onion to the pot. And I'm going to saute that onion until it's translucent, about two, about five minutes. My onion is sauteing and now, I'm going to add these beautiful roasted tomatoes. Which I roasted on 450 degrees with olive oil, salt and pepper and about six garlic cloves. I'm going to put them in my pot with my sauteed onion. So, a soup like this, because you roasted the tomatoes, really doesn't need a whole lot more. Tell you what I'm going to do. To my onion and roasted tomatoes and roasted garlic, I'm adding four cups of chicken broth. I'm using reduced sodium broth, if you have homemade stock, that is wonderful. You will adjust the amount of salt that you'll use in this recipe, depending on how salty your stock is. So, what I'm going to do because it's reduced sodium stock, is I'm going to use a teaspoon of salt and I'm also adding a quarter teaspoon of hot red chili pepper flakes. If you like it spicy, you can certainly add more. I'm then going to add four or five fresh basil leaves. If you don't have fresh basil leaves, you can use dried. Another thing I really like to do, is used prepared pesto, just a couple of teaspoons. And it gives it that wonderful basil flavor. Now, I'm going to put this back on the stove and simmer it for 15 to 20 minutes. I'm going to use an immersion blender to puree my soup very carefully, it's hot. You may want to use a oven mitt, if your not very comfortable with your immersion blender. So, I'm going to make a little noise right now. Now, it doesn't have to be a smooth, smooth puree, it's nice to have a little chunkiness to your tomato soup, it's really up to you. If you prefer a tomato soup that's smooth, you also may want to put this through a food mill or strain it. I like it this way. I'm adding a little cream, you can do between a quarter of a cup and half a cup, depending on how creamy you like it. Now, I'm going to use my ladle and stir it up. So, while my roasted tomato soup is simmering, I've gotten ready to make the Parmesan wafer that's going to garnish it. So, what I've got here, is about a cup of grated Parmesan cheese. And this is the easiest thing you'll ever do and it's so beautiful, you won't believe it. All you do, is make little piles of grated Parmesan cheese. It's good to use good Parmesan here, Parmigiano-Reggiano, if you can get it. I'm going to make four of them. And as long as they're spaced about an inch and a half or two inches apart, you're fine. So, make your little piles, if you want to make more of them, just use more cheese. So, believe it or not, that's basically the recipe. What you're going to do, is you're going to cook these in the oven on 400 degrees for 10 minutes. Now, I've done some, I'm going to show you exactly what they look like. Here are our cooked Parmesan wafers, and they make the most beautiful garnish for tomato soup. You can also serve them with cheese as an appetizer. I'm going to plate the soup now. I'm going to put about a big ladle full of the soup in the soup bowl. And now, I'm going to garnish it with my beautiful Parmesan wafer and for a little extra beautiful touch, I'm going to find a smaller leaf, I'm going to do a little fresh basil. And there we have roasted tomato soup with Parmesan wafer. I'm Liza Schoenfein from the Blog Life, Death & Dinner, in my kitchen in Harlem, New York. Thanks so much for watching.