Condensed Tomato Soup
2 heaping ice cream pails chopped tomatoes
1 head celery
1 large onion
1-2 green peppers
1 jalepeno pepper with seeds (optional)
3 tbsp dried parsley
Blend the above ingredients and pour into a large pot. Add the following spices and simmer for 45 minutes.
3 bay leaves
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp pepper
Put the veggies through a sieve to remove bay leaves, seeds and skin. Return the tomato juice to large pot. Take out 1-2 cups of tomato soup to use for later.
In a medium pot melt:
1/2 cup honey
1 cup butter
Add these next 2 ingredients to your melted butter mixture:
2 small tins tomato paste
1 tsp baking soda
This gets foamy so make sure there is room in your pot for expansion. Stir this mixture into the large pot of tomato juice.
Now make a paste of:
1/4 cup salt
1 cup cornstarch
1 cup cold water
Slowly add the 1-2 cups of cooled tomato soup that you set aside earlier to the cornstarch mixture. Make sure there are no lumps in this mixture. Once you have a smooth mixture you can slowly add it to your large pot of tomato soup. Heat until it just starts to boil. Turn off your burner. Put tomato soup into jars. I like to process mine in a hot water bath for 15-20 minutes to ensure a good seal. If you prefer sealing them in the oven I am sure that would work well also. Remove jars from water and wait for that sweet sound of your jars popping!
My family loves this soup, it almost tastes like Campbells ; just better!
To make the soup add an equal amount of milk in a pot and bring to a boil.
* Note: The original recipe calls for 1/2 cup of sugar added into the cornstarch mixture in place of the 1/2 cup honey that I added into the butter mixture. It also called for 3/4 cup of flour added into the cornstarch mixture as well. I opted out of this to meet the gluten and sugar free needs. You can do as you please :)
