Spicy Tomato Soup (with Bacon and Sausage)

A few years ago, I was staying at a friend's house for a week over the summer to pass the time. We lived in a relatively small community which had very little to offer teenagers. As such, we spent a lot of time indoors, playing with the cats, watching movies and cooking.

Being a southern mountain girl, I had been raised on meat and potatoes my entire life. Spices were limited to salt and pepper. Meals were heavy and filling. Not that this was a bad thing: My mom makes the best fried chicken, beef stew and pot pie in the world. (No one can cook as good as a mother. Period. Well, except maybe her mother!) Still, I felt that there was something lacking in my culinary experience. Thankfully, my friend and her family opened my eyes to an entirely new way of cooking: Hispanic food! I learned to love chilies and spices. What I would have balked at as a little girl would very quickly become my new favorite kind of food.

During the week at her house, my favorite meal by far was this soup. It's not necessarily Hispanic, but it IS spicy! I never thought to ask for the recipe, since it was more of a throw whatever you want in a pot kind of soup. Three years later, after a sudden craving for a really good soup hit, I finally succeeded in recreating the spiciest, sinus-draining, heart-attack inducing tomato soup in the world.

*Caution: Not responsible for any heart attacks that may occur. This stuff is REALLY spicy. Eat at your own risk!

• Note: Don't let the idea of a really spicy soup scare you off. The heat level can easily be adjusted by substituting various ingredients as explained later in the instructable.
• Note the Second: I did not create this recipe originally. It was shown to me by a friend's mother. I have never managed to find it anywhere else, so I'm posting it here to share it with those of you who enjoy good soup.

Step 1 Tools

• a nice big pot with a lid (I think mine is about 8 quarts)
• a skillet for frying
• a knife
• a cutting board
• a spatula
• a big spoon for stirring the soup
• a stove top of some kind (of course!)

Comments

[TitusCrow]

This looks awesome. Definately going on the must cook list. I recommend getting yourself some Chorizo. It's a spicy Mexican sausage that plays well with soups and chili. Available at any Mexican grocery and most big box supermarkets.

[Shakespam]

I usually get really bored and make food for my parents when they are at work. This turned out delicious. :) I love spicy food, but my parents aren't as tolerant, so I used 1 can of mild Rotel, and 2 large Jalapenos (Just a few seeds though), and kept the hot sausages. Great instructable!

[l8nite]

This really sounds good! if your buying the cans of tomatos and chillies go for the rotel, they have a hot version thats really tasty. I was thinking as I was reading that hot salsa and or fire roasted tomatoes would go great in this as well. great recipe!! thank you for sharing

[grumpy5150]

I love this soup. I did make some changes. I used turkey sausage and added tortilla chips in at the end. great soup.

[AidanG]

Oh, this is SO not as spicy as you make it out to be. Spicy to you, I'm sure, but for us folks raised in homes where jalapenos are called "salad" - we couldn't tell this from lain tomato soup. :) It does look delicious though! I think I'll add a couple jalapenos, seeds and all though. :)

[eash]

Hehe, I personally don't think it's all that spicy. It is a little while it's still really hot, but after that it kind of mellows out. Everyone else who's ever tried it have looked at me like I was crazy for being able to eat it, though. I definitely wasn't raised on jalapenos, so maybe I just haven't burned my taste buds out completely yet. I'm not nearly brave enough to put whole ones in the soup, though! I'll stick to my canned chilies lol. I hope you enjoy the soup if you decide to try it.