WITH YOUR WINE

Tomato and roasted red pepper soup

How many times did Mom make you tomato soup? So why not return the favor? This tomato soup is amazingly easy to make, and it tastes much better than you’d expect (even with canned tomatoes). You’ll never buy a can of the condensed stuff again. It’s a nice match with the Bonny Doon syrah.

Serves four, takes about 30 minutes

1 28-oz can best quality whole canned tomatoes

1 6-oz jar roasted red peppers

1 onion, peeled and chopped

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 ½ c water

2 tsp flour

2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

1 tsp herbs de Provence

1 tsp sugar salt and pepper to taste

1. Drain the tomatoes and peppers, and save the tomato juice.

2. In a large saucepan, sauté the onions in the olive oil for three to four minutes over medium to high heat. Then add the flour, mix well, and cook for another minute.

3. Add the water, mix well, and then add the rest of the ingredients. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce to low, and cook for 15 minutes. The tomatoes will have broken up, and the soup should be chunky.

4. Let the soup cool for a couple of minutes, and then puree in a blender until it is smooth. Put it back in the saucepan and bring to a simmer. Taste. If it isn’t tomato-ey enough, add a little of the reserved juice. Serve hot.

ask the WINE GUY?

WHAT IS ICE WINE?

Ice wine is wine made from grapes that are left on the vine to freeze. Freezing concentrates the sugar in the grapes, which produces the ice wine’s intense sweetness. As such, it is difficult to make and consequently expensive.

—JEFF SIEGEL