Tomato, Semolina, and Cilantro Soup

I am heading back to Alberta for roughly a week this coming Friday; part of the trip will involve collecting a few boxes of my things from a friend who has been storing them for me, and the rest will entail something of a road trip with a few friends who want to explore Edmonton before venturing to southern British Columbia for a few days.

Part of leaving for any length of time involves cleaning out the fridge. I hate coming home to things that have spoiled, so I pre-emptively go through and cull what might go through zombification before I get home again. Usable things I try to give to friends and the rest goes on a brief journey to the bin. Going through the fridge today revealed that I had leftover egg whites, celery, cilantro, and tomatoes that desperately needed something done with them before they edged over into the discard pile. I really hate throwing out food; not only is it wasteful which makes me feel uncomfortable when there are so many going without, it's also bloody expensive eating for one and having to throw things out because I didn't get to them doesn't make life any more affordable. It's something I have been trying to get better at. My ex and I had a fair number of arguments because my enthusiasm would frequently over-run my organizational ability and we would end up having to throw things out. I know it used to drive him crazy. Working on it now is a bit late for salvaging the situation between us, but hopefully it makes my life easier as I work on being alone.

So: egg whites, celery, cilantro, tomatoes.

The egg whites went into a set of cinnamon and espresso macarons that ended up with hazelnut buttercream as a filling. They weren't quite perfect (hollow and I think slightly underbaked), but they were still tasty.

The celery, cilantro, and tomatoes ended up going into the Tomato, Semolina, and Cilantro soup from Plenty. This soup is pretty straightforward to make and quite filling - a good option for cool weather. I'd serve it with grilled cheese sandwiches on a dark bread if I were feeling indulgent, or with a side salad dressed in something sharpish with something else salty in it - feta, olives, capers, perhaps - if I wanted something lighter. I found the soup fairly mild in flavour, but tomato-y; it probably wouldn't go amiss to add some parmesan or feta to the soup itself if you were feeling so inclined.

As usual, the ingredients are as listed in the book and the notations include my observations and alterations.

Tomato, Semolina, and Cilantro Soup
(p. 130, Plenty)

Serves 6

3 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 celery stalk, roughly chopped
2 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp ground cumin
1 1/2 tsp sweet paprika
2 tsp finely chopped thyme
3 1/2 cups cilantro leaves, roughly chopped
2 tbsp tomato paste
5 medium tomatoes (1 lb in total), peeled and finely chopped
salt and black pepper
~6 1/2 cups water
1 1/2 tbsp sugar
1 cup semolina
1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice (optional)
3 tbsp Greek yogurt (optional)

In a medium/large pot begin heating the olive oil over medium heat. Once it comes up to temperature, add the onion, celery, coriander, cumin, sweet paprika, thyme, and half the chopped cilantro.

Reserve the remaining cilantro for the garnish off to the side somewhere for now. Sauté until the onion is starting to soften and turn a golden brown.

 Add the tomato paste and stir to combine.

 Add the tomatoes, some salt and pepper, and let everything cook for a few moments. As my tomatoes were very soft, I ended up crushing them in my hands over the soup pot and peeling them that way - the results were far more rustic in appearance, but it seemed more efficient than trying to peel them with a knife or boiling them briefly to separate the skins from the flesh. Plus, this way was more fun. ^_^ 

Add the water and sugar to the pot and bring everything to a boil. Once the broth is boiling, reduce the heat a bit and simmer the soup for 20 minutes. 

To add the semolina to the soup, have it already portioned into a small container that you can easily pour from. You will need to pour the semolina out in a thin, steady stream while whisking with your other hand. This should prevent any lumps of semolina from forming, although if they do, don't fret - they'll be like little dumplings by the time everything is finished cooking and so aren't really much of a detractor. 

 Let everything continue cooking for another 10 minutes, whisking occasionally. During this 10 minutes, things will thicken considerably and take on an almost porridge consistency. If that isn't to your preference, you can add some more water or broth (I'd go with chicken broth if I had the option) toward the end of cooking to loosen things up again. Taste and add more salt and pepper if required, as well as the lemon juice if desired. I highly recommend the lemon juice, it helps things pop.

To serve, ladle into bowls and garnish with the reserved cilantro and yogurt, if desired.

This was an interesting texture experiment for me. I don't think I can think of it as a soup, as the thickness of it borders on scoopable and, to me, soups need to be pourable. So in my head it's more like a stew or porridge. That said, it was fairly tasty, although perhaps on the bland side. I added some shredded parmesan as well as the cilantro for garnish and that helped a bit, but I think if I were going to do it again, I'd sub out 3 or 4 cups of the water for a robust vegetable or chicken stock and simmer a few parmesan rinds in the soup as it is cooking to try and round out the flavour a bit more. I might also increase the tomato paste a bit and caramelize the onions further. I did enjoy the texture, and I could actually see this as a good brunch food on a cold and wet morning - it has definite stick-to-your-ribs-ness going for it and a very fresh flavour.