Tomato Rice Soup with Dill
Orange zest, chili flakes, and fennel seed all play a role in this unique tomato soup recipe. Creamy but dairy free and topped with fresh dill. Gluten Free!
Print
Pin
Servings: 6 servings
Equipment
- 1 blender
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large yellow onion (or two small) medium dice
- 1 medium carrot, sliced
- 1 celery stalk, sliced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 pounds ripe summer tomatoes, chopped or 1 (28-ounce can) whole tomatoes
- finely grated zest from 1 large orange
- 1/4 teaspoon red chili flakes
- 1/4 teaspoon fennel seed
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 pinch saffron, optional
- 4 cups vegetable or chicken broth
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1/4 cup finely chopped dill, plus more for garnish
- 1/4 cup uncooked long grain white rice or 1 cup cooked rice
Instructions
- Sauté veggies. Heat oil in a large stock pot over medium-high heat. Add onion, carrot, celery and garlic and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until tender. Add tomato paste and stir until it has melted in with the vegetables, about 1 minute.
- Add tomatoes and spices. Add tomatoes, orange zest, chili flakes, fennel, bay leaf, saffron, and broth to the pot and stir to combine. Bring to a boil, then lower heat to a slow simmer. Cook, uncovered, stirring and breaking up tomatoes with a spoon occasionally, for 20 minutes.
- Blend. Add sugar and dill and remove bay leaf. Blend until smooth with an immersion blender or using a regular blender (see notes about blending hot liquids), if desired. This is optional, if you want to have a chunkier soup, skip the blending step, add the rice to the pot and cook until rice is tender, about 8 minutes more. Taste and season with more sugar, salt, and pepper as necessary.
- Cook rice. If you want to blend the soup you'll have to cook the rice separately and add it after it has been blended. To cook the rice, bring a small saucepan of water to a boil over high heat. Add a generous pinch of salt then add rice. Cook until tender, about 8 minutes then drain.
- Serve. Stir cooked rice into blended soup, taste and season with more sugar, salt, and pepper as necessary. Garnish with extra chopped dill. Yum!
Notes
- Tomatoes: You can also make this in the winter using canned tomatoes. Substitute 1 (28-ounce) can of whole tomatoes.
- Blending hot liquids: Be very careful when blending hot liquids. Ladle the soup into the blender, only filling the blender halfway full. Place the lid on the blender but remove the inner insert. Place a folded piece of paper towel over the hole and hold it down with one hand. Turn the blender on low with the other hand and blend until smooth.
- Cooked rice: If you have cooked rice in the fridge this is a great place to use it. Stir the cooked rice into the soup right before serving.
- Uncooked rice: 1/4 cup might not seem like a lot of rice but it will expand as the soup cools.