Thick and Chunky Tomato Soup stems from an improvisation that combines leftover ingredients with bacon, red wine, and a jar of pasta sauce.

Improvisation № V/ii: This recipe is the 2nd in a 2-part series that began with a store-bought pasta sauce improvisation. If you find yourself here because you have leftover sauce, or leftover ingredients that would go well with a jar of sauce, or if you’re just craving some thick and chunky tomato soup, rock on.

Some days, I get home from work, my brain is too frazzled to man the kitchen, and I think, shit man, I gotta hit the sauce. I keep a jar in the kitchen to have on-hand for an improv like the one that produced this recipe. A versatile item, pasta sauce can be turned into all kinda whatever. If you’re cruising the aisles and saunter by a jar that’s on sale, flaunting its low, low rock-bottom price without a thread of shame, throw it into your cart, man.

You may feel that store-bought sauces always need to be fussed with or doctored up. If so, you may also feel that way about this soup. That’s why I added the optional tomato paste and wine. Taste it as it’s simmering, and if it needs something, try either or both. Whenever I have leftover paste, I freeze it in Tbs-sized blocks. It keeps well frozen and is handy for times like this. If your finished soup needs more depth, toss one of these in, right from the freezer. This soup is a great opportunity to use red wine that’s too leftover to drink … but so is sangria. You know, you might just try doctoring yourself up with some sangria, and if you get the dose right, you’ll suddenly feel a lot less fussy about the store-bought sauce.

Thick and Chunky Tomato Soup

Makes 8 man-sized servings

It’s easy to scale the number of servings up or down, depending on what you have on-hand.

This recipe produces a thick, chunky, hearty, stew-like minestrone soup, jam-packed with vegetables and sausage. If you’re looking for something with a greater liquid-to-solid ratio, keep the pasta-water mixture and spices constant and halve the amount of the other ingredients.

Ingredients

Directions

1. Toss bacon into a large soup pot over medium heat and cook, stirring frequently, until browned, 9-10 minutes. Remove bacon with a slotted spoon, to paper towels. Reserve bacon as garnish. Pour off rendered fat, leaving 2 Tbs remaining in the pot.^[1]

2. Sauté onion in bacon fat over med-high heat until it just begins to soften and turn translucent, stirring frequently, 5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium. Add remaining vegetables and herbs and cook, stirring occasionally, until the carrots’ crunch loses its edge, 10 minutes.

More Ingredients

More Directions

3. Add this next set of ingredients, bring to a boil, and simmer for 5 minutes. Off heat. Remove bay. 

Even More Ingredients

Even More Directions

4. Add pasta. Correct seasoning. Serve.

Thick and Chunky Tomato Soup reheats like a rock star, tasting better than fresh. If you freeze it, though, it’s, uh, kinda like a one-hit wonder on that long, slow curve that ends with casino gigs in Indiana. I mean, it’s still good, but Jesus, it used to be fucking good. Serve alone, or with bread, or with grilled cheese – but make it a white cheese on a rustic bread.

Newman’s Own Sockarooni

Apparently, Paul’s sauce was really something. Everyone who tasted it said so. According to some reports, Paul wasn’t shy about having people sample his sauce, so over the years, “everyone” grew to be a sizable crowd. Marlon Brando, rumor has it, blurted out after a second helping one afternoon (but before wiping half of it off of his chin), “Damnit Paul, you should bottle that shit!” Et voila. I used to think that, because it’s called “Newman’s Own,” that Paul himself made it in his home kitchen in Westport. When he died, I figured that’d be the end of it. But it wasn’t. So then I figured maybe he knew he didn’t have long to live, so he cranked it out and stockpiled it by the truckload … but still, how long could supplies last? But now it’s been six years, and it’s still in every supermarket I visit. I’m starting to wonder, is this really Newman’s own sauce? Surely, someone else must be making it.

Well … yes.

“Marlon, they say Paul’s sauce is too good to resist. Is it true?”

Notes:

Suggestions for Further Reading:

• Improvisation № I: Eggs w/Veggies, Avocado, Sautéed Kale, and Strawberries
• Improvisation № II: Eggs for Breakfast
• Improvisation № III: Hot Chocolate
• Improvisation № IV: Trifle Improv

Be on the lookout for our next post:

← Previous: Improv Soup, Part 1