Panzanella Bread Salad & Tomota Apple Soup

I have been craving for a delicious Tomato Soup lately. I love this recipe because it has a kick to it; a hint of sambal spice in it!. It is pairing with Panzanella Bread Salad and is definitely light, healthy winter meal.

RECIPEES

Tomato & Apple Soup

Serves 6 - 8

2 tbsp butter

1 large yellow onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, sliced

3 Honey Crisp (of Fuji) apples, peeled, cored and sliced

1/2 cup tomato paste

1 tbsp Dijon mustard

1 tbsp sambal (Huy Fong sambal oelek chille paste $4/8 oz.

at amazon.com or local Asian market)

1/2 dry white wine

2 16 oz. cans whole peeled tomatoes (and juice)

4 cups apple cider

3/4 cup heavy cream, divided in half

Salt and pepper to taste.

1. In a large soup pot, melt butter over medium heat. Add onions, garlic, and a

pinch of salt. Saute for 10 minutes until pale and tender. 2. Add apples, tomato paste, mustard, sambal, and white wine. Let wine reduce by half (5 - 7 minutes). 3. Add tomatoes and cider; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for an hour. 4. Pour half of the soup in a blender. Puree with one part of the cream until smooth. Repeat with the second batch and combine it all together. Season to taste with salt and pepper. 

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Panzanella Bread Salad

Serves 4 - 6

4 slices of day-old sourdough bread, cubed

1/2 cup/125 ml of olive oil

Handful of dandelions (arugula)

Handful of fresh basil

12 cherry tomatoes, halved

1 red bell pepper,  charred , peeled and diced

1/2 red onion, thinly sliced

8 capers berries

1 clove garlic, smashed

3 or 4 tomatoes, halved

1/2 pound/225 g of asparagus, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 tbsp/15ml butter

15 medium size shrimp, deveined but tails intact

Salt and freshly ground pepper

1 burrata cheese, mozzarella di buffalo or feta cheese

Preheat oven at 350 deg F/200 deg. C

1. Place the sourdough bread on a parchment paper line baking tray. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes or until the bread is golden brown.

2. Meanwhile, in a bowl, mix together the dandelions/arugula, fresh basil, cherry tomatoes, roasted pepper, red onion and caper berries. Keep aside in the refrigerator.

3. Chop a garlic clove in half, and rub it on the bottom and sides of a large bowl. While the croutons are still hot, add them into the bowl to infuse the garlic flavor. Squeeze the tomato halves over the croutons to allow their juices to mix in. Once the tomatoes have been juiced, cut up the remainder of the tomatoes and toss in with the crouton mixture. Drizzle with olive oil and let it rest at room temperature for 2 hours fo the bread to soak all the juices from the tomatoes and olive oi.

4. In a pan on medium-high heat, sautee the aspargarus in butter for 2 minutes. Season with salt and pper. Remove from the pan and toss it with the croutons. Add the shrimp to the same pan and sautee in olive oil for 1 minute, on each side. Add the garlic. Season with salt and pepper. 5. Combine the croutons and asparagus with the dandelion/arugula salad.

6. For serving; cut the burrate cheese on the serving plate, season with salt and pepper. Pile the panzanella salad and the garlic shrimp on top.

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Good Luck Every One...