Adam Ragusea’s Tomato Soup

Unbalanced

% Daily Values based on a 2,000 calorie diet

Step 1

Roughly chop the onion and the fennel bulb (reserving the stalks and fronds for later). Melt the butter in a big pot over medium heat and cook the onion and fennel in there for a few minutes until completely softened but not browned. (Lower heat if vegetables threaten to brown)

Step 2

Grind in some pepper and put in the celery seeds. Stir in the flour, and cook it for a couple minutes until it develops a nutty aroma but is not browned. Dump in the tomatoes. If the tomatoes are whole, you can accelerate their cooking by squishing them up.

Step 3

Stir in the wine, if you're using it. Simmer for at least a half hour, stirring and scraping occasionally to keep anything from burning on the bottom. Continue to taste throughout adding tomato paste and sugar as required

Step 4

When the soup is ready, puree it and then add salt and water to taste — you will probably need a lot of both. Add the vinegar if you didn't use white wine. If you want it super smooth, use a stiff spoon to grind the soup through a sieve, discarding the vegetable fibers.