Bread and Tomato Soup

This was so quick, easy and tasty! I used tomatoes I had frozen from the farmers market last summer. I used a couple of frozen cubes of pesto instead of the basil as I did not have fresh basil but lots of frozen pesto from last summer. I didn't use as much oil or bread. It seemed plenty dense and not too oily. I think there could be a lot of variations off of this recipe.

• llk73

• Grand Rapids, MI

• 2/22/2020

Like the other reviewers, I will reduce the oil by half next time and add more basil. I modified the recipe by adding some cooking sherry to the base and used an immersion blender in the pot to blend. Then, I added 1/2 lb. of cooked shrimp to the soup and it was fantastic! It was a Friday night experiment that will probably still require a few tweaks, but will definitely become part of our Lent dinner rotation.

• mcliett

• Charleston, SC

• 2/27/2016

Boyfriend had a craving for tomato soup and grilled cheese, and this soup really did the trick- perfect for cold rainy nights and super fast and easy to throw together. I made it exactly as is. I do regret using the full cup of oil. I thought there was too much olive oil flavor, and just too oily in general, especially since we made grilled cheese and that was also greasy. I didn't use stale bread (since we had just bought a loaf) and the bread didn't melt into the soup as well, so I just used an immersion blender and it was perfect. Very tasty, but highly recommend to use about half the amount of oil called for.

• peihgee

• San Francisco

• 9/15/2015

Wow, what a great mid-week soup. It came together so quickly with really nice flavour. My only change was a dash of red wine vinegar to pop the flavour.

• susanlogan

• 9/7/2011

Delicious! I used wheat bread, cut the oil in half, and sprinkled cheese on top. Very easy and tasty!

• safeldman

• New York

• 12/7/2010

Loved it. Everyone else loved it too. Insanely simple, I didn't use stock or water, just showed off some amazing tomatoes. The amount and dryness of the bread directly controls how thick the soup will be. The directions call to remove the garlic. In my case, there was no need, nor would I know how, since a strainer would catch a lot of the soup and bread as well, I think.

• ezra_dale

• NYC, NY

• 9/10/2010

Didn't know to reduce the oil and ended up having to add water in addition to the chicken stock. What I learned from this recipe is that for those of us who don't want to combine dairy with meat based soups- this is a smart recipe. The bread achieves thickening the soup and making it creamy without using heavy cream. I ran this soup through the blender at the end and got a great color. Final lesson: maybe 2 tbl spns oil, 4 cups chicken stock, lots of fresh basil, bread already toasted, keep garlic, and run through blender at the end. Very yummy, not oily, and creamy without all the fat!

• Anonymous

• 4/27/2010

This was awesome. I used to live in Florence and this dish definately took me back. I've made it before from fresh tomatoes and often it seemed like a lot of work with mediocre results but this recipe really gets the job done. cheap quick and easy. everyone loves this.

• carmellanicole

• kingman, az

• 6/12/2009

My husband and I loved this soup with a few modifications per earlier reviewers. I used 1/3 cup olive oil instead of 1 cup, used chicken broth instead of vegie broth or water, used 12 basil leaves instead of 3-4, and added a twist of freshly ground black pepper to each serving. Delicious, easy, and satisfying...perfect comfort food!

• Anonymous

• Corvallis, OR

• 3/16/2009

This is a great soup recipe, and tastes exactly like the bread soup my host mother made in Spain (which I have been craving since...). For the reviewers that said it was just bread tomato mush (implying that this is a bad thing), that is the idea. This definitely isn't a creamy tomato soup, it's a BREAD tomato soup, and is supposed to be a different texture. I love the mushy goodness- true comfort food, and a heartier soup than most tomato soups. But maybe not for everyone's tastes. My fiance begs me to make this on a regular basis!

• Anonymous

• 2/27/2009

This soup was so easy and delicious. I only used 1/3 cup of the oil and I think next time I'm going to try making it with less bread and see if it still maintains the wonderful thick texture. This recipe is a keeper.

• summersea

• san diego, ca

• 1/19/2009

great basic soup for a cold, rainy day! tastes great the second or third day as the flavors have stewed together. per the other reviewers suggestions, i amended the recipe, which is great to use as a starting point. i reduced the olive oil to a half cup, added some tomato paste, a teaspoon of dried basil, and garlic cheese croutons instead of bread. i would definitely recommend using vegetable stock instead of water as the latter will make it too bland.

• phemmephenom

• los angeles, ca

• 12/22/2008

This was a nice easy soup to make. Mine tasted a bit strong, though I blame myself for overseasoning it. I took other users advice and used half of the recommended oil. I still felt half the oil was too much though. I used most of the bread as crotons and only put some in the soup while cooking as the recipe explains. I think this would be better if there wasn't so much oil or perhaps by baking/toasting the bread instead

• SpiceLMF

• New York

• 10/29/2008

Great basic soup. This was a turning point for my boyfriend. He normally does not like soup, but I made this for a dinner party and now he is well on his way to enjoying soup. Very easy. Def no need for a full cup of olive oil--even if the oil is for the bread. ick.

• Anonymous

• Pittsburgh

• 6/1/2008

I made this soup for a cold, wet Mothers' Day and it won rave reviews across the generations! There are a few ways I would tweak it: Like other posters, I tripled or quadrupled the basil AND used canned tomatoes with basil. I would definitely reduce the oil, maybe even by half, to prevent the layer that formed across the top. And I ran it through my food processor (will try my immersion blender next time) to lose the strange lumpy consistency. I didn't bother removing the garlic cloves--just blended them right in. With the new, smooth texture, the soup was really delicious and flavorful.

• jenbrick

• Washington, DC

• 5/12/2008