The addition of white beans and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese turns this humble tomato soup into a meatless meal that sticks to your ribs.

Elizabeth Karmel

A few years ago, I traveled to Primland Resort located on the border of North Carolina and Virginia in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains.

I was there to teach a weekend of grilling and it was one of those perfect fall days that was cool and crisp giving a glimpse of the season to come.

I sat down outside to take in the gorgeous view and order lunch. I was both surprised and delighted that tomato soup was on the menu. In full disclosure, tomato soup and grilled cheese is my all-time favorite comfort food. I would’ve been happy with canned soup, but what arrived was the best tomato soup that I had ever tasted.

A few hours later, I was having a drink with their executive chef and I asked him if they had made the tomato soup from scratch. He was a little surprised that I liked it so much because it is as simple as it gets.

To address the cool weather, he asked his cooks to make tomato soup for the guests—like me—that would inevitably think cool weather=tomato soup.

When they gave me the recipe, I could not believe how simple it was. Basically, they sautéed onions and garlic in butter, added canned tomatoes, some water, and herbs and let it simmer until everything was cooked through. At that point, they seasoned the soup with salt and pepper, and just enough heavy cream to balance the acid of the tomatoes. It seemed too simple but I gave it a shot as soon as I got home.

Sautéing the onions and garlic in butter instead of olive oil gives the soup a richness that you often do not get with tomato soup.

Elizabeth Karmel

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After I made it once, I started experimenting. I settled on sautéing the onions and garlic in butter just as they had, but I also add extra virgin olive oil for flavor.

I experimented with thinning-out the soup with tomato juice, chicken stock, vegetable stock, water and a little white wine. After trying all of those ideas, I decided that—although optional—a healthy splash of white wine helps deepen the flavor, and I use half-and-half instead of cream to balance the soup and thin it out.

I happen to like a thicker soup so I don’t need it to be very thin. The beauty of this soup is that you can customize it to make it your own.

Speaking of which, choosing basil as the herb seems like a no-brainer, but my favorite herb to use is thyme and I use both dried thyme and fresh thyme. Adding the fresh thyme leaves at the end just before you serve it takes this soup from good to great.

After making the soup a couple of times, I decided to turn it into a full meal by adding a can of premium cannellini beans, a.k.a. white beans, and a generous grating of Parmesan Reggiano cheese. The addition of the white beans and the cheese turns this simple, humble tomato soup into a meatless meal that sticks to your ribs.

Feel free to serve it with your favorite salad and crusty bread with olive oil on the side for dipping.

These four ingredients plus a dab of butter, EVOO, salt and pepper make an exceptional version of tomato soup that can be dressed up to dressed down as you wish.

Elizabeth Karmel

Tomato and White Bean Soup

*You won’t believe how easy it is to make tomato soup from scratch. Follow the basic recipe to make the soup and customize it to your liking. My preference is to add white beans, fresh thyme and Parmesan-Reggiano as I’ve written it here. *

Makes about 8 cups

Ingredients:

2 generous tablespoons unsalted butter

Extra-Virgin Olive Oil

1 large onion, thinly sliced (plus any bits of onion in your refrigerator)

3-5 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

2 28-ounce cans of peeled tomatoes

¾ cup white wine or water

Kosher salt, to taste

Freshly ground pepper, to taste

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1-3 cups of stock, water or tomato juice for thinning out the soup

½-1 cup half and half or heavy cream, can also use sour cream, yogurt or labneh

1 can of rinsed cannellini/white beans, I like the Goya Prime Premium, optional

Fresh thyme

Parmesan-Reggiano cheese for topping

Method:

1. Melt butter in a heavy-duty Dutch oven.
2. Add onions and garlic. Sauté over medium heat until translucent, about 10 minutes.
3. Add the cans of tomatoes and their liquid, wine or water, salt and pepper and the dried thyme and stir well. Give the soup a nice “squirt” of EVOO.
4. Stir well and bring to a low boil. Reduce the heat. Place the lid on the pot with a small crack to let steam escape. Simmer for 30 minutes.
5. Using an immersion blender, puree the soup until it is smooth and there are no chunks of onion or tomato remaining.
6. Stir well and add cream/half-and-half to the soup. Add the white beans if using. Taste and adjust seasonings.
7. At this point, you can freeze the soup.
8. If eating right away, add more stock or other liquid if desired to thin the soup out. Bring soup back to a low boil and taste again for seasoning.
9. Serve with a drizzle of good EVOO, fresh thyme and grated Parmesan-Reggiano.