Chilled Sun Gold Tomato Soup with Lots of Summer Stuff

THIS IS NOT A GAZPACHO. It’s a chilled soup we sometimes treat like a sauce. Soup or sauce, its flavor triggers my taste memory of Campbell’s from a can (in a very good way). Little Sun Gold cherry tomatoes are my favorite here, but not having them shouldn’t be a deal breaker. Any sweet cherry, teardrop, or grape tomato variety will suffice.

I recommend passing the soup through a fine-mesh strainer to give it an ultrasmooth texture, but you can skip that if you like.

INGREDIENTS

2 yellow onions, diced

4 garlic cloves, smashed

2 teaspoons salt, divided

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

8 cups Sun Gold cherry tomatoes

1 bay leaf

¼ teaspoon chili flakes

5 cups water

⅔ cup buttermilk

¼ cup heavy cream

1 tablespoon sherry vinegar

Summer Garnish

1 cup sweet corn, cut off the cob

1 cup of your favorite tomatoes, small-diced or quartered if they are cherry or grape

1 cup diced peaches or cantaloupe

1 cup diced cucumber

2 tablespoons chopped or torn soft herbs; basil, tarragon, chervil, mint, and cilantro are all good choices

1 tablespoon minced chives

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon lemon juice

2 tablespoons olive oil for finishing

INSTRUCTIONS

Make the soup: In a 4- to 6-quart saucepan or Dutch oven, sweat the onion, garlic, and ½ teaspoon of the salt in the olive oil for about 10 minutes. Add the cherry tomatoes, bay leaf, chili flakes, and water just to cover. Bring it up to boil and cook at a steady simmer, uncovered, till the liquid has reduced by half, about 30 minutes.

Remove the bay leaf and allow the tomato mixture to cool slightly. Transfer it, along with the buttermilk, heavy cream, sherry vinegar, and remaining 1½ teaspoons salt to a blender. Blend it up till smooth. I recommend doing this in batches to prevent a massive hot kitchen mess.

Pass the blended soup through a fine-mesh sieve and give it a good stir to make sure everything is incorporated evenly. Chill it down completely and taste for seasoning. Because all tomatoes are a little different, you may need to adjust the seasoning with salt, sugar, vinegar, or cream.

Make the garnish and serve: In a medium bowl, stir everything together and let it hang out, refrigerated, for about 10 minutes while the flavors marry. Serve the chilled summer stuff on top of the chilled soup on a hot day.