Tomato Soup from the Tomb Raider Cookbook
The next dish I made from Tomb Raider: The Official Cookbook and Travel Guide was Tomato Soup. It’s one of two recipes themed around Antarctica, the final location of Tomb Raider III. The antagonist, Dr. Willard, even eats some tomato soup with a piece of toast when Lara confronts him at the end of the first Antarctica level. Funnily enough, when he knocks her and table over, the soup doesn’t spill. Ah, late 90s video game physics…
I love tomato soup, and multiple versions of it. I like it with cream and without, with pesto and without, with grilled cheese and without (but I prefer it with grilled cheese). My absolute favorite recipe, from Laura Vitale - who you’ll find is one of my favorite cooks - has you roast Roma tomatoes with onions, carrots and celery, then simmer them in chicken stock and marinara sauce with a potato, puree it all, and serve it in bowls with a dollop of mascarpone cheese.
The only things I insist on when making tomato soup or having it be made for me is 1. It’s not condensed from a can (you’ll find I hate the stuff), and 2. it’s passed through a sieve, either after cooking (if it’s a smooth soup) or before the tomato part is added (if the soup has other ingredients in it). It’s a texture thing with me; I don’t like seeds, flecks of skin (which look like needles) or pulp; I want pure tomato without any bits that could get stuck in my teeth.
Anyway, there’s nothing much complicated about Tomato Soup. The Tomb Raider recipe uses canned whole peeled tomatoes and tomato paste, and no cream. This makes it both have a pronounced tomato flavor, and suitable for transport or long storage in a thermos. The only change I made when making the recipe was that I passed the soup through a sieve after blending it, to ensure it was completely smooth.
Since I was making it for dinner for two, I made two grilled cheeses on the side to dip into the soup. Very tasty! I would certainly bring this in a thermos should I ever decide to visit Antarctica.
If you want to make this recipe for Tomato Soup yourself, you can find it in Tomb Raider: The Official Cookbook and Travel Guide.
