Burgoo’s Tasty Tomato Soup

Burgoo is a popular Vancouver restaurant that serves the best comfort food. I tend to order this tomato soup because there aren’t a lot of meals on their comfort food menu that a lactose-intolerant person can eat.

Not only is this soup lactose-free, but it is soooo delicious! Also, it’s quite easy to make – once you’ve chopped everything up you just simmer for an hour, purée, and you’re ready to go.

I made a few changes to the recipe: since I am making it in Winter, I didn’t have fresh tomatoes that I thought would enhance the flavour. The recipe called for some canned and some fresh, and I have used all canned tomatoes. I added a few carrots, and I made the recipe a little bit smaller so it would fit in my pot.

This soup is even better after reheating, and freezes really well. I love making a massive batch and freezing most so I can have a healthy soup anytime I need it.

Just a word about the wine: please use a wine you would actually want to drink. If you like a sweeter red wine (ick), then you should probably use less brown sugar. The alcohol burns off, so there is none left in the soup, should you be serving it to people who don’t drink alcohol.

This serves 6-8 people.

What you need:

• 2 – 796 mL cans of whole or chopped tomatoes (San Marzano are the best!)
• 3 cups water
• 250-375 mL your favourite red wine
• 1 very large sweet onion (or two small ones), chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 1/4 cup tomato paste
• 2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 2 Tablespoons brown sugar
• salt and pepper to taste
• optional: olive oil for drizzling before serving

What you do:

1. Put everything in a large pot.
2. Gently bring it up to a simmer.
3. Simmer for one hour with the lid off, stirring from time to time.
4. Purée, and if you want a super smooth soup, run it through a sieve or food mill.
5. Taste to see if you want to add more salt, pepper, or anything else.
6. Serve drizzled with a little olive oil, or not.
7. Enjoy!