By Maggie Ruggiero
- Total Time
- 50 minutes
- Rating
- 4(231)
- Notes
- Read community notes
A taste of nostalgia can be comforting. Inspired by the childhood favorite, canned tomato soup, this homemade version yields a lush and satisfying meal culled from kitchen staples. The process of separating your canned tomatoes from their juices, cooking them until caramelized and enhancing their strength with concentrated tomato paste helps develop deep roasted tomato flavor. If you can’t find alphabet pasta, any other small pasta will be delicious.
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Ingredients
Yield:4 to 6 servings (about 8 cups)
- 2tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 3tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1medium yellow or red onion, finely chopped
- 2garlic cloves, smashed
- Kosher salt and black pepper
- 1medium carrot, chopped
- 1rib celery, chopped
- 1(28-ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes in juice
- 1tablespoon tomato paste
- ½ to 1cup alphabet pasta (or other very small shaped pasta), depending how hearty you like your soup
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)
179 calories; 11 grams fat; 4 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 5 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 19 grams carbohydrates; 4 grams dietary fiber; 6 grams sugars; 3 grams protein; 463 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Preparation
Step
1
Heat oil and 1 tablespoon butter in a heavy pot over medium heat. Stir in onion and garlic, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring often, until onions are softened, about 5 minutes.
Step
2
Stir in carrot and celery, and cook, stirring occasionally, until just tender, about 10 minutes.
Step
3
While the vegetables cook, strain the tomatoes over a bowl, separating the juice from the whole tomatoes, then squeeze the tomatoes over the liquid. Add the squeezed tomatoes and the tomato paste to the pot and cook, stirring frequently, until tomatoes start to caramelize, about 15 minutes.
Step
4
Meanwhile, cook the pasta in salted boiling water according to packing instructions. Reserve 1 cup of cooking liquid, strain, then return pasta to the pasta pot and gently stir in remaining 2 tablespoons butter; season to taste with salt and pepper and set aside.
Step
5
Add the tomato juices from the bowl and 2 cups water to the soup pot, stirring to scrape up any caramelized bits. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook, partly covered, until the vegetables are very tender, 10 to 15 minutes.
Step
6
Using an immersion or countertop blender, pureé the soup until very smooth. (If using a countertop blender, blend in batches with a kitchen towel over the lid of the blender.) Stir in pasta water as needed to thin soup to desired consistency. Stir in buttered alphabets and adjust seasoning. Divide among soup bowls.
Ratings
4
out of 5
231
user ratings
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Cooking Notes
Patrick Guilfoyle
Any idea where these alphabet pasta shapes come from. Thanks
Claire
One of my fall/winter staples. Mini ravioli with cheese from Trader Joe's makes an excellent substitute for alphabet pasta.
Andrea
you can buy alphabet pasta online at Amazon or Walmart.
Maria G
This is a great recipe! I made grilled cheese with it for a throw back meal.
tania
This was perfect (used a red sauce instead of tomato paste.)
rad rad
I'm not sure the draining of the tomatoes was worth it - squeezing tomatoes was messy. I ended up adding a teaspoon of sugar anyway because the finished soup was tart for my palate. I simmered the soup far longer than indicated in the recipe, so I don't know what happened, perhaps insufficient tomato squishing. I used stelline - i found 1 cup to be a lot. If I do stelline in the future I will use 3/4cup.For those looking for letters - Catelli makes some simple ones.
rgowan
Good but needs salt.
rad
I think they intentionally made it low sodium so that it will be suited to feeding young children. It's easy to add to taste for adults :)
AJ
I love this recipe. I actually bought an immersion blender because of it, so I can make it more easily. My 4 year old absolutely devours it. For the alphabet pasta I’ve used the La Moderna brand found at our local Mexican grocery store. They also make animal shaped pasta and other small sized pastas which would probably all be good in this! Over the summer I froze chopped basil in ice cube trays with olive oil. I add a cube to this recipe at the end and it takes it over the top. So good.
lanw
Cooked as written, but had to sub in pearl couscous (!) for the pasta because that’s what I had. For anyone wondering how this stacks up to the „3 ingredient“ tomato soup based on Marcella Hazan‘s tomato sauce recipe, I felt like this one has a bit more depth of flavor. The 3- ingredient tomato soup remains my go to for when I just don’t want to cook but this recipe is a fine choice for when I have a bit more time and don’t mind chopping a few veggies.
Blanche
I made this for my granddaughters and they just loved it and so did I! I had all the ingredients at hand except the alphabet pasta so I used Tubettini pasta instead. Caramelizing the tomatoes with the vegetables gave it such depth of flavor that made all the difference. I’m making it again today on a very snowy and cold Chicago afternoon!
Marlena
I usually don’t like tomato soup, I find it boring and sweet but this recipe is incredible! I didn’t have celery or tomato paste so I added some fresh tomatoes, a little extra carrot, and a splash of cooking sherry. It was a bit thick so I also added some vegetable broth. The flavor was velvety, complex, and addictive.
Heather
I found small alphabet-shaped pasta at my local Whole Foods. My kids now want me to make this soup every day.
Claire
One of my fall/winter staples. Mini ravioli with cheese from Trader Joe's makes an excellent substitute for alphabet pasta.
Kyle
Yummy. Confusingly written recipe (re: tomatoes and squishing and juice) but it turned out alright. Used small elbow macaroni for the pasta and used extra carrots for health and flavor.
lizsweig
Wonderful flavor! Kids loved it. If you want even more tomato flavor, up the tomato paste. I used Ronzoni alphabet pasta purchased from Amazon. Worked great.
kevin
i am literaly cooking in class lol
Leah
Excellent! My five year olds loved it!! I did double the carrot and celery - just seemed like too little of those.
DAN
Wonderful flavor like I remember from Germany!AN
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