I have a confession to make. This is MY blog so I get to confess whenever I want. I LIKE SOUP. But…and here comes the confession…I DO NOT LIKE SOUP WITH CHUNKY STUFF IN IT. There must have been a childhood soup trauma or something but I have never gotten past the chunky stuff thing. Unless the chunky thing is lobster. Then I can get over it. Love lobster bisque. The creamy soup with sherry in it. The old fashioned soup. But let’s face it. Lobster is very very expensive and you have to steam them and shell them and by the time you do all of that when you are MEtired, you would have to take a nap. My Creamy Tomato Bisque with Puffy Cheese Croutons is the next best thing.
This Tomato Bisque is the most delicious soup I’ve ever made!
So today I bring you the MOST delicious soup I think I have ever made. Not kidding. This soup is so delicious with so many unexpected flavors and textures that you and your family and friends are going to go absolutely nuts. I promise. Just hear me out.
The Creamy Tomato Bisque is creamy without one drop of cream. You can make it all vegetarian or add a little bit of cream and whisk in a tiny bit of butter right before you serve it. Either way, you will be delighted by this. I made the soup in a heavy Le Creuset Dutch Oven. You can always be certain that nothing will stick or burn to the bottom, especially when you put the thick, pureed soup back into the pot after it has had its turn in the Vitamix. Whenever you make tomato soup or tomato sauce, you MUST MUST MUST have carrots and honey. If you don’t add both to the canned tomatoes you will have sour, acidic tomatoes. Trust me on this. Carrots, honey and a pinch of baking soda will neutralize the acid in the tomatoes and make them smooth and sweet.
Parsnips give the soup extra flavor and take it a notch up from your usual tomato bisque. You will see. This is not your ordinary soup. Not to mention those croutons.
The Puffy Cheesy Croutons are no lie. They are croutons but they are very PUFFY. If you don’t believe me, see the photos of before baking and after. See?
Puffed up little nuggets of cheesy dreams. I wanted the croutons to be able to skim the surface of the soup like a swimmer doing the breast stroke. I didn’t want croutons doing deep dives below the surface. So, in one of my middle of the night revelations (I have been having these and writing about them a lot!), I thought that Asiago bagels would make a great crouton because they are so firm, especially when they are left out overnight.
Bagel pieces make for the best croutons for this creamy soup!
Dipping the bagel pieces in a combination of cream cheese, butter, grated gruyere cheese, and some fluffy whipped egg whites was just such a genius idea (if I do say so myself). How did I think of this? Well…when you spend as much time awake between 1 am and 5 am as I do, you would be surprised how much you think about. It’s magic. Until the alarm goes off in the morning and then the magic is gone. POOF.
But the magic in this very easy soup and the fun puffy croutons live on in this recipe. As a bonus, you will have leftover frozen puffy cheese croutons in your freezer to heat up whenever you feel a crouton craving coming on. Seriously, they make great appetizers on their own. Happy cozy winter dinner everyone!
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Creamy Tomato Bisque with Puffy Cheese Croutons
You will hit it out of the park with the rich, flavorful tomato bisque that can be vegetarian or not with the addition of a bit of cream and butter. The puffy croutons are a real treat and leftover croutons can be frozen and quickly baked for a delicious and different appetizer.
Ingredients
- For the croutons:
- 8 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
- 8 ounces butter at room temperature
- 1/3 pound gruyere cheese finely shredded or Swiss
- 3 egg whites at room temperature
- 2 Asiago bagels cut in half horizontally and then in 8 pieces vertically
- For the soup:
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 shallots finely minced
- 1 medium onion diced
- 2 tablespoons garlic finely minced
- 8 carrots peeled and cut into 1” chunks
- 4 medium parsnips peeled and cut into 1” chunks
- 2 cups chicken stock or water if you want this to be vegetarian
- 28 ounce can of whole Roma tomatoes undrained and roughly chopped
- 10 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 1/2 cups Italian parsley with leaves and stems
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 tablespoons honey
- pinch baking soda
- 6 basil leaves julienned
- 1/3 cup heavy cream optional
- 2 tablespoons butter optional
Instructions
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For the soup:
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In a large, heavy pot (I like Le Creuset) heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the shallots, onion and garlic and stir well until the onion is just translucent but not brown. Stir constantly so the garlic does not brown.
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Add the carrots, parsnips, stock (or water), and chopped tomatoes.
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In the center of a large piece of cheesecloth (about 12” long), place the thyme, parsley and bay leaves, which you have broken in two to enhance their flavor. Gather the cheesecloth into a bag and tie the top with cotton string. Add the bag to the pot and stir well.
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Bring the vegetables to a boil and add the honey and baking soda.
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Cook the mixture for 45 minutes until the vegetables are very soft.
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At this point you can refrigerate the soup until you are ready to serve it or you can proceed with the recipe.
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Remove the pot from the refrigerator and remove the cheesecloth bag.
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Process the soup mixture in a Vitamix or in a blender or food processor until it is very smooth. Add it back to the pot and heat the soup over medium heat until it is very hot. Add the cream if you are using it and the julienned basil. Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the butter right before you serve the soup.
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Ladle the soup into bowls and garnish with baked Puffy Cheese Croutons. I use 4-5 per bowl.
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Make the Croutons:
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In a large glass heatproof measuring cup heat the cream cheese and butter in the microwave for 45 seconds until the cheese is melted. Stir well. Continue to heat at 10 second intervals until the butter is just melted. You do not want to cook the mixture, just soften it enough to combine the butter and cream cheese.
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Stir in the gruyere cheese and set aside until just cool. This should take about 10 minutes.
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Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Add the cream cheese mixture to the egg whites and beat for about 20-30 seconds just until it is light and fluffy.
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Line a large baking sheet (of a size that fits into the freezer) with parchment paper. Dip each piece of Asiago bagel into the cheese mixture and put on the parchment paper. Put the baking sheet into the freezer for at least 1 hour. These can be made ahead and once they are frozen, you can store them in a plastic Ziploc bag and use them for croutons or later as appetizers.
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To heat them, preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Remove the pan from the freezer or place the frozen pieces on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Heat them for 8-10 minutes until brown and serve on top of the soup or on their own as appetizers.
Made this last night and finished it off today for lunch. Only difference was I substituted carrots for the parsnips as that’s what I had in my crisper!
I worried that it would not be flavorful enough after I tossed out the spices but it was just sweet and flavorful enough to stand on its own. Loved it! Was too lazy to do croutons. Had sour dough boule instead.