"john zeiss" ha scritto nel messaggio
> As a child it was a bit of a special treat to have a tin of Heinz tomato
> soup before going to bed in the evening.

snippage
one that would be more *healthy*, and also might 'approximate
> that 'creamy type' tomato taste?

Anyone can make the following soup. I have substituted olive oil for
butter, canned for fresh tomatoes, left out the rice and it's still always
good.

You will need about a chilo of ripe tomatoes. You can put them into boiling
water and then easily peel them, but at this time of year a lot of tomatoes
have scars, bruises and other imperfections which make that not such a good
idea, so I don't. I remove anything I don't want to eat, and then dice them.
If you peel them, dice them when they are peeled.
Cook about 1/2 cup of plain white rice with more water than you usually use-
this so it won't become a rice brick. Drain and rinse it if necessary to
keep it from clumping.
Take six tablespoons of butter and melt it in a deep pot and then add about
a cup of chopped onion and a good-sized pinch of salt. Cook this slowly,
being careful not to brown it, until the onion is softened and cooked. This
is important, because tomatoes don't allow the onions to cook further once
they are added. When the onions are cooked, if you know your tomatoes are
not very sweet, you can add a glug of sherry or Marsala and let it cook off.
Stir in a heaping tablespoon of flour. Then add the diced tomatoes and about
two teaspoons of salt. Cook this slowly, stirring it once in a while to make
sure all the tomato pieces are getting cooked, until the tomatoes are
softened, about 10 minutes or so. Use a stick blender to blend it smooth in
the pan. If you don't have one, you can use a food mill, but you will lose
the seeds and perhaps a little of the flavor. Return the pot to low heat.
Slowly, one tablespoon at a time to begin with, stir in two cups of milk.
Stir it up, and a pinch at a time, correct the salt to your taste. Grind in
some pepper, too. Bring to a simmer and turn off the heat.
To serve it, put some rice in a soup bowl and ladle the tomato cream over
it.
Putting the rice into the soup means you have to eat it all at once or the
rice became a gluey slush. Nicely al dente rice is much better.
You can freeze this in portions or in whole, but freeze the rice separately
in similar quantities.