Recipe - Mediterranean Tomato Soup With Pasta

5 tablespoon Olive Oil
1 lg Onion, minced
2 One half pound Ripe tomatoes, cut in large
Dice
4 lg Garlic cloves, chopped
2 cup Chicken stock or any broth
1 One fourth cup Water
1 One fourth teaspoon Dried leaf oregano crumbled
Salt and freshly ground
Pepper to taste
1 cup Small pasta, such as thimble
Shaped ditali (salad
Macaroni)
2 tablespoon Coarsely chopped fresh basil
Bowl of freshly grated
Parmesan cheese (for serving
If desired)

Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over mediumlow heat. Add onion and
cook, stirring occasionally, about 12 minutes or until soft but not brown.
Add tomatoes, garlic, stock, water, oregano, salt, and pepper; bring to a
boil. Cover and cook over low heat
45 minutes.

Puree soup in a food mill; or puree in a food processor and strain,
pressing so pulp goes through strainer. (Soup can be kept, covered, 2 days
in a refrigerator.) Return soup to saucepan and reheat. If soup appears
thin, simmer uncovered 23 minutes to thicken slightly.

Bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil and add salt. Just before
serving add pasta and cook uncovered over high heat, stirring occasionally,
58 minutes or until tender but firm to the bite. Drain well. Add to soup.

Stir in 1 tablespoon basil. Taste and adjust seasoning. Sprinkle with
remaining 1 tablespoon basil. Serve with parmesan cheese, if desired.

NOTE: Made this only when you have very ripe tomatoes they are the soul
of this soup while the ditali, or pasta thimbles, give it body. The soup is
relatively easy to prepare because there is no need to peel or seed the
tomatoes. After cooking, they are pureed in either a food mill or food
processor. A garnish of tomato slices nad basil sprigs looks very
attractive.

This recipe came from a friends pasta cookbook. It is great!!!

Posted to Digest eatlf.v097.n175 by Arlene Schiffman
arlenes@holly.colostate.edu on Jul 11, 1997