Curried Peanut and Tomato Soup

I think I said the other post would be my last post for a week, but somehow I found myself cooking today. There's something incredibly nice about having a day off at home while everyone else is at work. I should be off getting my oil changed, but it's grey outside and my apartment is so cozy ... perfect weather for a warm, spicy soup.

This recipe is an example of the dangers of watching Top Chef late at night. Earlier in the evening, I had been discussing my obsession with peanut butter with someone, then the episode of Top Chef I was watching had a peanut soup featured in it. I checked my copy of Gourmet Today for a recipe and found one that would've required going to the grocery store or else outrageous adaptations. I turned to epicurious.com instead and found this recipe. The only I was missing was ... peanut butter (peanut butter is clearly too delicious for me to safely keep it on hand). Luckily, I had some peanuts on hand, so I made my own (kind of). I'm sticking with the original recipe below though and just including peanut butter.

In terms of adaptation, I used whole Italian tomatoes because that's what I had and I think the quality is better than most of the cans of diced tomatoes, so I simmered the soup slightly longer. The original calls for mixing the peanut butter with 1 cup of hot water, which I reduced to 1/2 cup, but next time I'd omit it entirely to make the soup a little thicker. I passed on the fresh cilantro entirely. Make sure you use a good quality curry powder as that's the flavour that really shines in this dish. You could easily add some garlic, ginger, and/or lime juice to this to up the flavour (and my homemade peanut butter needed a little brown sugar), but the base of this is solid ... spicy with a hint of peanut butter that's not overpowering.

Oh and according to a reviewer on epicurious, this recipe is "A good way to sneak a little more lycopene into your husband's diet to keep his prostate gland healthy!" I can't say I've ever had that concern while cooking, but maybe you do!

I served this over rice to make it a little more hearty. If you're hoping for a lot of leftovers, double the recipe as this one doesn't make very much.

Curried Peanut and Tomato Soup (adapted from epicurious.com)

Ingredients
1 medium onion, chopped (1 cup)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons vegetable oil (I used peanut)
2 teaspoons curry powder (preferably Madras masala)
1 (14-oz) can diced tomatoes in juice (I used whole Italian tomatoes)
1 3/4 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup smooth peanut butter
rice (optional)

1. Cook onion, salt, and pepper in oil in a 2- to 3-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, 4 to 5 minutes.
2. Add curry powder and cook, stirring frequently, 2 minutes.
3. Add tomatoes (with their juice) and broth and simmer, uncovered, 5 minutes. (I let it simmer a little longer because I was using whole tomatoes.)
4. Stir in peanut butter. Simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes.
5. Puree until smooth using an immersion blender.
6. Serve over rice.