Tonight I finally got around to making a soup from The Ultimate Soup Bible, a cookbook we got from Lisa’s brother at Christmas. This easy to make tomato soup is made with Israeli couscous (which is much larger and chewier than regular couscous), onions, tomatoes, garlic, cilantro, and mint; the soup has a great aroma and wonderfully garlicky flavor. It should appear in the rotation pretty regularly. We loved it.
Lisa says:
I love Israeli couscous… and this soup is so colorful.
Chris says:
It’s delicious. I like the cayenne: it’s subtle — just a slight tingle in the back of the throat.
Lisa says:
Oh *that’s* what that is. I was worried I was coming down with something.
Chris says:
Well, you’ll feel the blues if I take your soup away.
Lisa says:
Yeah, I will — I definitely want to have this again…
Chris says:
You’re in luck, then. The recipe makes so much that we’re having leftovers tomorrow night!
Lisa says:
Wahoo!
Tomato Soup with Israeli Couscous
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2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 medium carrots, chopped
14 oz can chopped tomatoes
7 garlic cloves, chopped
6 cups chicken stock (or vegetable stock, if you’re veg.)
1 1/3 cups Israeli couscous
3 mint sprigs, chopped
5 cilantro sprigs, chopped
1/4 tsp ground cumin
cayenne pepper, to taste
salt and ground pepper, to taste
Heat the oil over medium heat in a large saucepan. Add the onions and carrots and cook until they are soft, about 10 minutes. Add 1/2 the garlic and the remaining ingredients to the pan. Bring the soup to a boil, add all but 1 tsp of the chopped garlic, then reduce the heat and simmer for 7-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the couscous is tender. Remove from the heat, stir in the rest of the garlic, and ladle into bowls. Serve with warm sourdough bread.
4-6 Servings
11 responses to “Tomato Soup with Israeli Couscous”
Oh yummy! That looks superb. Perfect for this dreary weather.Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Yum! Israeli couscous is so versatile, I love it in all kinds of dishes.
I love colorful food, and therefore, I love this. Definitely the perfect meal for snowy Boston 🙂
Sues
I have the hardest time finding Israeli couscous in NYC grocery stores–should I be looking in a different section than the normal couscous?
Thanks!!
Hi Ami — in some stores I’ve seen it near the pasta and rice, and others I’ve only seen it available in the bulk bins. I got this package at Whole Foods.
I found it! Thank you so much for the help.
I think after all the meat we had this week, this soup would be a nice change. Beautiful colors
Just found you on tastespotting and had to make this for dinner! It was WONDERFUL, and so simple straight out of the pantry! I’m also very happy to have some leftovers, what a keeper; thank you!
Bernadette — Glad you liked it, and welcome! 🙂
I realize this recipe was posted several years ago but i made it last night with variations and it was delish. I’ve been feeling like I’m coming down with something for days and this sounded like a real spot-hitter. The changes I made were to omit the mint (i didn’t have any) and i added the juice of half a lemon and about a tablespoon of minced fresh ginger, quadrupled the cilantro and cumin and used about a half teaspoon of cayenne. Oh, I also only used one cup of couscous. It was FABULOUS and even better this afternoon for lunch. The tomatoes I used were pureed, also. I feel a lot better today, too! Thanks for posting.
You had me at quadruple the cilantro!