BLT Soup

I made this soup tonight for some friends and it was a big hit. The cool crunch of the romaine and bread crumbs pair perfectly with the smoky, bacon in this tomato soup.

1 sourdough baguette
1 C. Italian breadcrumbs
1 tsp. garlic salt
1 head romaine lettuce
3 tbs. pesto
1 C. sour cream
8 oz chicken stock
48 oz. pureed tomatoes with juice
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
1/4 C. grated Parmesan
3/4 lb. bacon- save drippings
black pepper

Cut bacon into 1" pieces and cook in a pan on medium high heat, stirring frequently until bacon is crisp. Remove bacon with a slotted spoon and cool on a few paper towels. Save drippings in pan and set aside.

Preheat oven to 400. Slice baguette into 1" slices and brush with drippings. Place on a cookie sheet and bake in oven until crisp, about 4 minutes.

Combine 1/2 C. sour cream with pesto and place in a squeeze bottle if you have one. Thinly slice romaine lettuce and set aside.

Add bread crumbs to a small pan with 2 Tbs. bacon drippings and garlic salt. Toast over medium heat until crumbs begin to brown, about 4 minutes. Cool and set aside in a bowl.

Combine chicken stock, bacon drippings, pureed tomatoes and Italian seasoning in a large soup pot over medium high heat. Stir to combine and add crumbled bacon pieces. Cook for 5-6 minutes, add sour cream and Parmesan, stir to combine and process with an immersion blender until smooth. Season to taste and add pepper. Continue cooking, covered on medium low heat until ready to eat.

Ladle soup in a bowl, add a spoonful of breadcrumbs, a large pinch of shredded romaine and a squeeze of the pesto aioli. Add a sourdough round to the side of the soup and serve.

2 Savory Tarts, and how to roast tomatoes.

We had a delicious Easter dinner yesterday, dijon and garlic roasted rack of lamb, maple glazed carrots and parsnips, steamed asparagus with slivers of garlic, and mashed potatoes.

We also had a friend join us who is a vegetarian, so I made her 2 different tarts using 1 package of puff pastry. The first was a tapenade and roasted tomato tart, and the second was a marinated mini mozzarella, basil and fresh tomato tart with oregano.

Both were incredibly easy and absolutely delicious!

Begin with the DuFour Puff Pastry. Defrost in the refrigerator for a couple hours. While the pastry defrosts, thinly slice 3 campari tomatoes and lay them on either an olive oil rubbed cookie sheet, or better use a Silpat sheet. Drizzle the tomatoes with a little olive oil, a pinch of kosher salt, a little Italian seasoning, and a good couple grinds of black pepper. Bake in the oven at 325 for 15-20 minutes, They should be shriveled, but not burnt. You can store these tomatoes in a little olive oil in a jar or tupperware in the fridge for a couple weeks.

Next, marinate the mozzarella. You can also do this 1 day in advance.
1 C. fresh drained mozzarella ( I used the tiny mozzarella balls)
1/4 C. olive oil
3 cubes frozen garlic
pinch of kosher salt
couple grinds of black pepper

Combine all ingredients and let mozzarella marinate for at least 3 hours, preferably overnight.

To make Tapenade Tart:

Preheat oven to 375.

Cut DuFour Puff pastry in half, (half is for this tart, the other half is for the other tart). Place the puff pastry on a silpat lined cookie sheet or a cookie sheet brushed with olive oil. If you can't find puff pastry, you can also bake off a pie crust and make something similar.

Spoon enough pre-purchased olive tapenade to cover the tart, leaving just a little of the edges showing. Lay the roasted tomatoes over the tapenade and sprinkle a small amount of grated Parmesan cheese of the tomatoes.

Bake for 25- 30 minutes or until the tart is golden brown. Remove and cut into slices. Serve while hot.

To make the Mozzarella tart:

I baked both tarts at the same time on different cookie sheets. Lay the other half of the puff pastry on a cookie sheet (same as above) and lay out tiny mozzarella in row, leaving room for a row of sliced tomatoes between each row.

I used a couple of the fresh campari tomatoes,(not roasted) sliced them into thin slices, and squeezed the seeds and juice out with my hands so I just had the "meat" of the tomato. I placed the sliced tomato in between the mozzarella rows and finally added 3-4 chiffonaded basil leaves to the top of the tart. I added a little of the mozzarella marinade and a good shake of dried oregano to the tart before baking it. The tarts both took about 25-30 minutes.

They were both delicious, and make beautiful springtime hors' d'oeuvres or meals with a simple salad.