It’s a twofer today on the newsletter (that still doesn’t have a name and at this point maybe it never will.) One recipe, tomato soup, is free and one, peach mango ginger pie, is for paid subscribers.
I recently came into possession of about 17 pounds of whole peeled tomatoes and a lot lot lot of tomato paste for a thing I’m working on that will be revealed eventually. I had to make a dent in this stockpile simply to free up space in my fridge and freezer. And thus: tomato soup — like, five quarts of it. So here’s a kind of loose recipe for how I did it, but cut in half because mine made like 10 servings.
This soup is creamy in texture and flavor, slightly garlicky, and has a very small kick from some red pepper flakes. Since I used my immersion blender, it retained some texture, which I loved, but you could make it very smooth in a regular blender.
Ingredients
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 a large yellow onion, diced
4 cloves of garlic, smashed and peeled
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon salt
Black pepper
1/4 cup tomato paste
2 28-ounce cans of whole peeled tomatoes
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 1/4 cups water
2 ounces crème fraîche, sour cream or greek yogurt (optional)
2-3 tablespoons heavy cream (optional)
Directions
In a large, heavy-bottomed pot like a dutch oven, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onions and season with salt, a few cracks of freshly grated black pepper, and red pepper flakes. Cook until they wilt a bit, stirring occasionally, about 3-5 minutes.
Reduce the heat to medium-low and stir in the garlic cloves. Cook until they’re tender and just starting to turn lightly golden brown.
Add in the tomato paste, making sure the onions and garlic are evenly coated. Continue cooking, stirring frequently, until everything is heated through and the paste starts caramelizing a bit on the bottom of the pot.
Pour in the whole peeled tomatoes, sugar and water and use a potato masher or another tool to break them up a bit, or squeeze them (carefully) by hand and add them to the pot that way. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium heat and then turn to the heat to low and allow it to simmer for around 30 minutes, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pot regularly.
Using an immersion blender, carefully puree the soup until your desired texture is achieved. For a really smooth texture, allow the soup to cool slightly and puree the mixture in batches in a blender, then return it to the pot to heat it up again before serving.
Stir in the crème fraîche and heavy cream. Serve with a drizzle of olive oil, chili crisp, parmesan frico crisps.
For great grilled cheese, I like to use crusty bakery bread cut into half-inch slices, brush melted butter on the outsides, fill them with a few slices of American and Muenster cheese (both superior melting cheeses). Place the sandwich in a skillet and heat on medium for about a minute, then cover the pan (this helps melt the cheese). Keep an eye on it for a minute or two, checking underneath, and flip when it’s golden brown. Continue cooking, uncovered if the cheese has melted, until the other side is evenly toasted.
This Week’s (Other) Recipe
Okay! This is the last summer recipe. I would love to hear from you all about what recipes, information, tips and tricks, etc. you would love to see for fall and the holidays. To let me know, you can email me at easygayoven@gmail.com, message me on IG, message me in the Substack chat, or write a comment!
This is a double crust pie, but if that scares you, make it easier on yourself and just cut out shapes like circles or stars and scatter them over the top. I show a lattice below but you could also just cut out a few wide strips and line them up with some space in between. If you’re worried about your filling being runny, this helps a lot because it helps the excess water to escape and you can see better when the center of the pie is bubbling (which means the corn starch has been activated). Also, I don’t peel my peaches. I like the color the skin adds and I don’t mind the texture. You can certainly peel them if you want.
And speaking of the filling, it’s half peaches, half mangoes, sugar, lime juice and zest, ground cardamom, salt, ground ginger and grated fresh ginger. It’s a little tropical, and the ginger and lime and cardamom make it fresh enough to escape the potentially cloying nature of peach pie. The fruit gets macerated with the sugar and other ingredients, then the liquid is strained, mixed with a little corn starch, cooked down and then mixed back into the fruit. This helps remove some of the excess moisture and allows the filling to cook faster and set up firmer. Even then, when properly baked, this filling holds its shape when cut into (AFTER you allow it to cool completely and set) but isn’t completely stuck together with a gelatinous globs syrup.
I also wanted to show how this recipe would look with a lattice crust top and no egg wash. There’s no reason to egg wash besides looks — as you can see it gives the pie a golden sheen, but I’ve also found it can make parts of the crust, especially the crimped edges, get a little too dark or even burn. And at the the same time, it can make it difficult to tell from the untrained eye if the pastry is actually cooked through. But it’s up to you!
Peach Mango Ginger Pie
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