M'm! M'm! Good!

My fall has been blessed with a bountiful harvest of tomatoes. Last year, I had jalapeno peppers coming out my ears and ventured into the world of Candied Jalapenos. This year I am searching out canning and preserving recipes for tomatoes. I have canned salsa, spaghetti sauce, pizza sauce, plain sauce, and juice. Quarts, pints, and half-pint jars filled with liquids in various shades of red line my basement pantry shelves. And now, I am adding more with some M'm! M'm! Good! Tomato Soup.

Hubs isn't a fan of tomato soup, but I love a grilled cheese sandwich dipped into a steaming bowl of tomatoey goodness. Those commercials with the snowmen defrosting into little kids are spot on. Nothing warms you more completely from the inside out than a warm bowl of soup. It will be so nice this winter when I can toast up some bread and melty cheese On My Plate and fill my bowl with M'm! M'M! Good! Tomato Soup.

M'm! M'm! Good! Tomato Soup

10-12 pounds tomatoes, chopped (I just chopped enough to fill my 7 1/4 quart dutch oven...seeds, skins and all.)

2 yellow onions, chopped

1 head garlic, minced

1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped

1-2 tablespoons kosher salt

fresh cracked black pepper

2-4 tablespoons sugar (optional)

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup flour

plus 3 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped finely

Chop tomatoes and place in a large, heavy pot over medium heat.
Add the onions, garlic, and 1/2 cup of chopped fresh basil.
Season with salt and pepper.
Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, until tomatoes have cooked down and flesh has released from the skins.
Remove from heat.
Process tomatoes through a food mill/cone colander with pestle/sieve/or similar utensil to strain the seeds and skin.
Return pulpy juice to heavy pot and bring to a simmer.
Add sugar, if desired.
With mixer, cream together the room temperature butter and the flour.
With mixer running, slowly add a ladle of warm tomato juice to the flour mixture.
Repeat with 4 or 5 more ladles of soup until the flour mixture is warm and thoroughly combined with a good portion of the juice.
Add the warm flour mixture to the pot of simmering juice, stirring constantly to combine.
Add the 3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh basil.
Heat thoroughly.
Ladle into prepared jars (I use pints) and secure lids.
Process in hot water bath for 20-30 minutes. (Yield: 6-8 pints tomato soup concentrate)
TO PREPARE SOUP: Mix one part jarred soup mixture with equal part of milk and heat thoroughly.

Grapes of Wrath

I think that Hubs thought I was punishing him when he first came home to a Chicken and Pesto Pizza that had sugary red grapes scattered under the gooey, melted cheese. Grapes? On Pizza? WARM grapes on PIZZA??!?? One taste calmed his indignation. It is good. Damn good. This isn't any ordinary pizza. It is the difference you have been searching for among the goopy, red-sauced, pepperoni pies. Don't be trapped with the ordinary. Try it. There is absolutely no wrath for Chicken and Pesto Pizza with Red Grapes On My Plate.

 

Chicken and Pesto Pizza with Red Grapes

pizza crust (refrigerated, frozen, or homemade...your choice)

1/3 cup pesto (refrigerated works, but homemade is best)

1 1/2 cups seedless red grapes, halved

1 cooked chicken breast, shredded (rotisserie chicken or leftover grilled/roasted, whatever is in your fridge)

3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

1/2 - 3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

3 tablespoons grated Romano cheese

fresh cracked black pepper

1/4 cup green onions, sliced

Preheat oven to 425°.
Prep dough for pizza (pat, spread, unroll, whatever you have to do).
Spread pesto evenly over dough, leaving a 1/2-inch border around edges. 
Arrange grapes evenly over dough; top with chicken and garlic.
Sprinkle with mozzarella and Romano.
Top with fresh cracked black pepper. 
Bake at 425° for 15-20 minutes or until crust is golden brown. (If you use a premade crust, this bake time will be reduced until the cheese is melty and toppings are headed through.)
Sprinkle with onions.
Slice into 12 wedges. (Serves 6 average servings, but just Hubs and I usually eat an entire pizza alone.)