To me, there is nothing that says comfort like grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup. My siblings and I loved to eat it for lunches when I was a kid. I have now grown up and so have my tomato soup preferences. I prefer my tomato soup of the gourmet variety. I have spent years and had many failures trying to create a tomato soup recipe that I appreciate as much as I appreciate tomato soup in general. This tomato soup recipe is like nothing I have ever tasted. The flavors just roll around in your mouth tempting you to take another bite and discover more.
This recipe makes 6 pints of gourmet canned tomato soup.
Vegetables
Ingredients:
13 pounds quartered Tomatoes
1 c finely diced Carrots
2.5 c finely diced Celery
4 finely chopped Onions
2 c finely diced Sweet Peppers
3/4 c Brown Sugar
1 tbsp minced Garlic
1 tsp ground Cloves
1/8 tsp Pepper
2 tsp Salt
I use the food processor to finely chop my carrots, celery, onions and peppers.
Heat Vegetables
Making Gourmet Tomato Soup:
Begin making the soup by combining all the vegetables and the bay leaves in a large pot. Heat it to a simmer and then simmer the vegetables until they are soft.
food mill
After the vegetables are soft, remove the bay leaves and feed them through a  food mill. This will separate the more solid portions like the seeds and skins from the vegetables. I like to run the waste through a second time to get as much moisture out of it as I can.
Additionally, you could put the soup puree through a blender to make it even finer. I usually don’t worry about it but some people like theirs a little smoother.
The skin and seeds and harder vegetable bits from the food mill I save and use for a vegetable soup base for that night's dinner. It can even be dehydrated and then ground into a powder to add nutrients to many different dishes.
add spices
Now that you have the vegetables pureed, you need to add the rest of the ingredients. If my soup is too thick, this is when I add back some of the juice that I strained off it. Bring the mixture to a simmer and continue to simmer for 15 minutes.
Canning:
After 15 minutes, it is time to place it in jars and can it. Using a jar funnel, fill up the pint jars leaving 1-inch of headspace.
Place the lid on top of the jar and add the ring. Tighten the ring to fingertip tight and process in a pressure canner for 20 minutes at 10 pounds of pressure if at sea level. (Remember to adjust your pressure if you are more than 1000 feet in elevation.)
Once your jars have completed the appropriate time in the pressure canner, remove the lid and allow them to cool for 10 minutes. Next, take them out and set them on a heat-resistant surface, spacing them about an inch apart for 24 hours to cool and completely seal.
If any jars did not seal then place it in the fridge and use it immediately. Store the sealed jars in your cool, dry, dark pantry to enjoy for the next 1-3 years. After three years the nutritional value of canned food diminishes. The quality is best in the first year.
If you have any questions about canning with the boiling water canner or how to adjust the pressure or processing time for altitude, take a look at my canning basics videos.
Gourmet Tomato Soup
When you are ready to eat the soup add 1/2 cup of milk or cream to 1 pint of soup, heat to simmering, and eat with grilled cheese sandwiches or quesadillas.
