Tomato and Goat Cheese Bisque
It’s tomato time, y’all. When I checked on my garden this week, I felt some mild panic when I realized I had a lot of ripe tomatoes that I didn't really know what to do with.
Last year when a similar late-summer tomato panic set in, I made this New York Times Tomato Bisque with Fresh Goat Cheese. After I made it back then, I basically flipped because it was the most delicious thing I had ever tasted. I’m not exaggerating: this bisque is a big freakin’ deal.
I’ve tweaked the recipe a bit and replaced the canned tomatoes with fresh to make it extra summery. With some crusty bread and basil on top, this recipe is so dang yummy and so dang efficient. Your trove of tomatoes will be gobbled up in no time.
Catch the sustainability tips below and let me know what you think of the recipe in the comments!
Serves: 4-6 people
Time: 1 hour
Ingredients
16-20 plum tomatoes (10-12 beefsteak or heirloom could work too)
Water for blanching
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium onion, diced
1 cup water
1 tablespoon sugar (I used coconut sugar)
1 tablespoon salt
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes, or more if you like it spicy
4 ounces goat cheese
Basil for topping
Steps
Blanch dem tomaters. To do this, bring a large pot of water to a boil over medium-high heat and prepare a large bowl of ice water adjacent to the stove. Working with a few tomatoes at a time, place them in the boiling water for about 30 seconds to 1 minute. Then, transfer them immediately to the ice water. Remove them from the water and peel off the skin. Repeat with remaining tomatoes and drain the water. Then, cut off the tops of the tomatoes (where the stem was attached) and compost those scraps.
Place the skinless tomatoes in a large bowl. Crush them using a potato masher or your hands if you don’t mind getting a lil’ messy. Set those aside.
Now start your bisque. In a large pot over medium heat, pour in the olive oil. When it gets hot and shiny, add the minced garlic. After the garlic gets fragrant, toss the onion into the pot also.
After the onion starts to get just a smidge of color, dump the tomatoes, water, sugar, salt and red pepper flakes into the pot and give 'em a stir. Bring it up to a boil and then turn the heat down to low. Pop a lid on that sucker and let it simmer for about 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, blend soup with an immersion blender (or in batches in a standup blender) until it’s smooth. Add the goat cheese and give it a swirl, leaving some visible crumbles. Top with basil if you’re feelin fancy. Thoroughly enjoy.
Sustainability tips:
Tomatoes, garlic, onion, and basil: Grow these yourself or get them from a farmer in your area. This will cut down on narsty GHGs from fuel burned during travel.
Olive oil: Fair trade (if you can find and afford it) and organic are the way to go for olive oil. Read about sustainable olive oil in my cooking oils post.
Sugar: Whatever sugar you have on hand will work. I like coconut sugar because it’s easy to find fair trade versions and doesn’t have a huge environmental impact. Extra, extra, read all about it in my cane sugars sustainability profile.
Goat cheese: Local is the way to go because it probably won’t have weird preservatives, won’t release as many GHGs during travel, will be delicious and will definitely support local goats.