Tomato-Lemon Soup

Micmak Farms is at the Tsunami farmers' market on Saturday mornings and will be at MFM in mid-April. Their hydroponic tomatoes are amazing right now! They are also working on some new stuff for spring that will be the talk of the tomato scene. (Tomatoes really are a main topic of conversation in the South -- no joke!) Anyway, we used a bunch of Micmak tomatoes for this soup.

A couple of general tips for a good tomato soup:

- Peel those tomatoes before cooking them down; it gets rid of any lingering metallic taste. A serrated peeler makes quick work of this step.

- Lemon zest really lightens things up; just use the zest from one lemon at the end of the cooking time.

- Have it with broiler grilled cheese!

Tomato-Lemon Soup

1 onion (chopped)

1 cup of white wine

3 carrots

2 ribs of celery

8 tomatoes (peeled)

1 tbsp. miso

thyme

sea salt and cracked pepper

3 sun-dried smoked tomatoes

3 tbsp. tomato paste

bay leaves

zest from one lemon

sour cream and chives (garnish)

Sauté the onions in olive oil until they are translucent. Add white wine. Chop the carrots and celery, too, and add them into the mix to be sautéed.

Next, add in all ingredients from peeled tomatoes to the tomato paste and cook for 30 minutes on medium heat. Blend it all up with an immersion blender. Add lemon zest and cook for a few more minutes. Add bay leaves, too -- but be sure to take them out before serving. Garnish with sour cream and chives.