Yes, we’re back with another fantastic soup recipe discovery!  I love hot soup any time of the year, but a chilled soup is a delectable way to celebrate summer!   And here in the Seattle area we cherish and appreciate our summers, because they’re typically quite short!

I had the pleasure of enjoying this soup at my cousin’s bridal shower earlier this month.  It was the first course in a delightful luncheon honoring J, who is getting married later this fall on Catalina Island – a destination wedding!  It will be absolutely glorious.

The shower was hosted by family friends of my aunt, uncle and cousins – I’ve heard great things about them over the years and it was wonderful finally meeting them in person!  The two families get together often, and their big tradition is preparing a huge feast together every Christmas Eve – with friendly, dueling master chefs at work!  Wow, I’d love to drop in on one of those gatherings…when chefs compete EVERYONE wins!

I am not sure where this recipe comes from, otherwise I would gladly provide the link.  Here it is, straight up!

Cold Cream of Tomato and Peach Soup

Cook 1 chopped onion in 2 T butter for 5 minutes.  Add 2 pounds of chopped tomatoes (recommend heirloom tomatoes at top of season), and 1/2 pound chopped, peeled peaches.  Simmer until the tomatoes break up.  Add 1/2 C chicken stock and 1/2 C cream.  Puree and chill.

Garnish with fresh, chopped tarragon, a small slice of peach and a drizzle of cream.

NOTES:  this is not a vegetarian soup given it uses chicken stock – this was understandably an issue for the woman sitting next to me at the shower who is vegan (both the stock and cream were no-no’s).  I am not sure how vegetable stock would alter the flavor for vegetarians but it couldn’t hurt to try.

When I first heard this soup had peaches in it, I cringed a tiny bit.  I don’t care for peaches at all – not even peach-flavored ice cream [a weird quirk of mine but that means more peaches for the rest of you to love].  But the combined flavors of the peaches with the tomatoes and the fresh tarragon garnish is fantastic.

Heaven in a bowl!  Buon appetito!