Creamy heirloom tomato soup

The recipes in Homegrown and Handmade are simple and basic, all the better to showcase Niemann-Boehle’s homegrown products. Her tomato soup recipe calls for frozen tomatoes, but presumably fresh would work, too. She doesn’t specify if the herbs used are fresh or dried; I would double the amount if using fresh. I’d also whisk the milk into the butter and flour paste (a.k.a roux) and bring it to a bare simmer before adding it to the tomatoes to eliminate the risk of curdling. 

• 2 lbs. frozen orange or yellow tomatoes
• 1 tsp. garlic salt
• 1 tsp. paprika
• 1/8 tsp. cayenne
• 2 tsp. oregano
• 1 tsp. basil
• 1/4 c. butter
• 1/4 c. flour
• 1 1/4 c. whole milk

Cover the bottom of the pot with about half an inch of warm water and place it on medium heat. Tomatoes only need to be thawed enough to break into pieces. The thawing will finish over the heat. Once the tomatoes are thawed, add the spices (and herbs) and stir. Use an immersion blender (also known as a stick blender) to blend the tomatoes until smooth.

Meanwhile, melt the butter in a separate saucepan. After it is melted, whisk in the flour until it is a smooth paste. Add milk to the pot with the tomatoes, and then whisk the paste into the blended tomatoes and milk. Mix well and continue to stir until the mixture boils. Turn off heat as soon as it boils. The total time from start to finish is only about 20 minutes, which is quicker than take-out. Serves 4.