Tomato soup is, perhaps, the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word soup. How about having this rich, creamy and seasoned delight with no less exciting edible garlic bread bowls? We know garlic bread but what’s a garlic bread bowl and how do we achieve this feat? An edible garlic bread bowl is a round loaf of baked bread which is cut from top and hollowed from inside to give it that appearance of a bowl and then seasoned with garlic. The edible bread bowls, crunchy from outside and soft from inside served with thick savoury tomato soups could be just the new flavoursome thrill you have been looking to experiment with but are not sure about. It is not just tasty, but also an appetising and nutritive meal that can be enjoyed as an evening snack or breakfast.
The first-ever bread bowl filled with soup was made by an Irish nobleman in 1427, with an intention to please a British duke. Since then, the edible bowl has been adopted with sundry variations and combinations of desired soups and stews across Europe and the US.
Talking of soups, they have existed since 20,000 BC, but the first commercial tomato soup was devised in 1897 by American businessman, and founder of Campbell’s Soup company, Joseph Campbell. He made condensed tomato soups by reducing water in the tin in order to lessen the storage and shipping costs. Here’s the recipe.
Preparation time: 3 ½ hours
Cooking time: 2 hours
Cuisine: European
Servings: 2 people
Ingredients
For tomato soup:
• 1 tsp butter
• Few garlic cloves (chopped)
• 1 cup diced onion
• 4-5 plum tomatoes, cut into small pieces
• ½ cup vegetable stock
• ½ tsp paprika or chilli powder
• ½ cup thick cream
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Chopped basil leaves
For ginger bread bowl:
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp yeast
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 1 tsp sugar
• Salt to taste
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 garlic bulb
• 1 cup grated parmesan cheese
Method:
For preparing tomato soup:
• Heat butter in a pan, and sauté diced onions and garlic cloves on medium to low flame for 4-5 minutes of minutes until translucent.
• Add the tomatoes, some salt, pepper and paprika as per taste.
• Mix well all the ingredients, cook on high flame and let it come to a boil
• Add vegetable stock and let the tomatoes simmer for another 30 minutes.
• Turn off the flame, let the mixture cool and then blend it into a fine paste.
• Add thick cream into the paste and mix well.
• Chill it in the fridge.
For making bread bowls:
• Take 1/2 cup of warm water and yeast and leave it to ferment for 5 minutes.
• In another bowl take flour, salt, sugar and fermented yeast water, mix them and knead all the ingredients into a soft dough.
• Pour 1 tsp of olive oil and gently brush it all over the dough.
• Cover and allow it to rest for an hour.
• After an hour, when the dough rises and almost doubles in size, punch it to release air bubbles and knead a little more.
• Roll the dough into a log, cut it into 4-5 small and equal pieces and then roll these into round dough balls.
• Cover the dough balls with a cloth and let it rest for another 20 minutes.
• In the meantime, preheat the oven for 15 minutes at 180°C.
• Place the dough balls on the well- greased parchment paper spread over the baking tray.
• Bake it for 15-20 minutes at 180°C until it turns golden brown in colour.
• Allow the baked bread bowls to cool down.
• Then cut the bread bowl from top and scoop out the bread from inside with the help of a knife.
• Now bake a garlic bulb for 2 minutes in the oven, crush it into a paste and apply on the insides of the bread bowl.
• Let it cool and keep aside for pouring tomato soup.
For garnishing:
• On a non-stick pan, pour grated parmesan cheese and melt it into round forms and leave them until they get a little crispy.
• Take them off the heat while still soft and place on a rolling pin to get a hard-shell taco shape.
• Pour the chilled tomato soup in the garlic bread bowls and bake for another 10 minutes.
• Put the bowl in a serving tray, and place the crispy parmesan cheese over it.
• Adjust the seasonings in the soup and garnish it with basil.
Tomato soup can be served hot or cold in the garlic bread bowls depending on one’s choice and season and it can be relished throughout the year.
