Garden Tomato Soup with Cumin

• Recipe by Stéphane Garnier

Prepared without the chicken stock, this fresh tomato soup becomes a delicious tomato sauce for pasta.

Ingredients

1. 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
2. 1 cup finely chopped sweet onion, such as Vidalia
3. 4 large garlic cloves, smashed
4. Sea salt
5. 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
6. 7 pounds tomatoes, cored and coarsely chopped
7. 2 cups chicken stock or canned low-sodium broth
8. Pinch of sugar
9. Freshly ground pepper
10. 1/4 cup coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley
11. 1/4 cup coarsely chopped lovage or celery leaves, plus whole leaves for garnish

Directions

1. Heat 1/3 cup of the olive oil in a soup pot. Add the onion, garlic and a large pinch of salt and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the onion is softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the cumin and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the tomatoes and bring to a boil. Cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes are soupy, about 20 minutes.
2. Pass the soup through a food mill or fine sieve, pressing hard on the solids. Return the soup to the pot. Add the chicken stock and sugar and season with salt and pepper. Simmer over moderate heat until reduced to 10 cups, about 25 minutes. Stir in the parsley and chopped lovage. Ladle the soup into shallow bowls, garnish with the lovage leaves and drizzle with olive oil. Serve hot.

Make Ahead

The soup can be refrigerated for 2 days. Garnish and drizzle with olive oil just before serving.