Tomato Orange Soup

Have you ever had one of those cooking moments where after tasting a dish in a restaurant once or twice (or in this case for years) you manage to go home and recreate the dish in your own kitchen? These moments of accomplishment are some of the best around. I was lucky enough to have one of those moments tonight and with this soup…..

For several years I have been buying quarts of Tomato Orange Soup from Elephants Delicatessen in Portland. I love this soup. Even when I was in college, if I was in Portland I would always manage to pick up some and take it back with me to Corvallis. Now a days, I like to stop by and grab a cup on my way to play at Washington Park for the afternoon. But lately, I have been frustrated with the service at the delicatessen. There are always plenty of staff but they never seem to be organized and as a result there are a lot of customers left waiting. I don’t mind waiting for good food. However, I do mind waiting when all I want is a pint of pre-made soup, there is nobody in line in front of me and employee after employee keep walking by but not assisting me in spending my money. Not to mention a toddler on my hip who wants “DOWN!” So on this day, after not being helped in above manner, I left with toddler in tow, and headed up to the park frustratingly soup-less. I might not have had any soup with me, but I still had that pesky tomato orange craving hanging around…..

When I got home, my hankering still had not eased, so I decided to do a little internet research to see if I couldn’t come up with a comparable recipe. To my delight I found out that the soup was so popular at Elephants Delicatessen in 2002 (which coincidentally is right around the time I discovered it as well) that they let the Oregonian run the recipe. So I had the exact recipe for the soup at my fingertips! Better yet, the ingredients were very simple and I had everything I needed right in my pantry to make the soup. I did change the recipe a little bit, using what I happened to have on hand. The most notable change was that I didn’t use any cream. I was able to create a whole pot of soup for less than $5 and it tasted incredible! If you think tomato and orange don’t compliment each other, think again! I even thought my version tasted better than the original, in that completely satisfied way you can only get from making something yourself…..

I served this soup with Tillamook Pepper Jack Grilled Cheese sandwiches for dipping of course!

Tomato Orange Soup
Serves 4

½ cup unsalted butter (1 stick)
1 small yellow onion, chopped
½ tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
28 ounce can Muir Glen Organic whole peeled tomatoes in juice*
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
1 cup fresh orange juice
¼ cup whole milk

* you don’t have to use Muir Glen brand but I feel like they are the best tasting , readily available canned tomatoes.

Melt butter in large pot over medium heat. Add chopped onion and sauté until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add fresh thyme, tomatoes , baking soda , salt and pepper. Bring soup to a boil and simmer uncovered until slightly thickened, about 15 minutes. Using an immersion blender, blend soup until smooth.* Add cup of orange juice and stir. Bring the soup back up to a gentle simmer, add whole milk and stir until blended. Season to taste. Serve!

*You can use a blender or food processor, but be careful, hot liquid expands when blended and this part can be tricky. I highly recommend buying an immersion blender it will make your soup making so much easier!