Cream of Tomato Soup with Souffléed Cheese Toasts

Ingredients

• 1 pinch baking soda 
• 2.5 tablespoons butter 
• 1 pinch ground pepper 
• 1 rib celery stalks chopped
• 1 teaspoon dijon mustard 
• 1.5 teaspoons basil dried crumbled
• 1  egg whites separated
• 2 tablespoons flour 
• 1 pinch ground cloves 
• 1.5 cups milk 
• 1 small onion chopped
• 1 teaspoon spring onion minced
• 6 servings salt and pepper freshly ground
• 1 cup sharp cheddar cheese grated
• 6 servings tomato paste 
• 30 ounce tomatoes diced canned
• 2.5 cups vegetable stock 
• 4 slices sandwich bread lightly toasted

Equipment

• bowl
• oven
• whisk
• pot
• blender

Directions

1. Melt the butter in a soup pot over medium heat.
2. Add the onion, celery, basil, and cloves; cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is limp, about 5 minutes. Stir in the flour, then add the tomatoes, baking soda, and stock. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer, partially covered, for 20 minutes.
3. Let cool briefly, then puree in a blender until smooth
4. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Return the soup to the pot, add the milk, and season with salt. If the soup is too thick, thin it with additional milk or stock. If the tomato flavor isn't as rich as you'd like (if the tomatoes were packed in water instead of puree), deepen it by stirring in a little tomato paste.
5. For the toasts, combine the yolk, if you're using it, with the mustard and cayenne, then stir in the cheese.
6. Whisk the white until it holds soft peaks and fold it into the mixture along with the scallion.
7. Spread the mixture on the toasted bread and bake until puffed and golden, about 5 minutes, while you reheat the soup.
8. Serve the soup piping hot, with a piece of cheese toast, cut in half on the diagonal, and fresh pepper ground into each bowl.
9. From Vegetable Soups from Deborah Madison's Kitchen by Deborah Madison. Copyright (c) 2006 by Deborah Madison. Published by Broadway Books.Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone and The Savory Way, each earned the IACP's Julia Child Cookbook of the Year award. Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone also received a James Beard Award, as did Local Flavors, her most recent book. She is also the author of the James Beard Award nominee This Can't Be Tofu! and The Greens Cookbook, which is now a classic. She lives in Galisteo, New Mexico.