The Hyrule of Tears of the Kingdom has made some strides in terms of agriculture. They are starting to cultivate new crops and make better use of some of the fruits and vegetables growing in the wild. One such crop is the Hylian tomato.
“A fruit found widely from cold areas to warm climates. Full of nutrition, and kind of trendy lately. Use it in cooking to recover more hearts.”
These tomatoes do indeed grow all over Hyrule. In addition to them growing so commonly in the wild, the farmers of the kingdom are beginning to cultivate them as well. This increase in tomato growth in the kingdom has also created a new trend in cooking. Tomato dishes are the new thing in the kingdom! So, I figure we should explore a view of these. We will begin with a basic staple, the fruity tomato stew!
“A colorful dish, a bounty of fruit simmered with fresh tomatoes."
Well, the recipe on the game only uses tomatoes, along with salt and milk, so we will do the same. The only fruit in this soup is tomatoes… a lot of tomatoes. We will be roasting them first to remove the skins, and then cooking them down with onions, garlic, and basil. The milk will be added at the back end to cream the soup just a bit. The result is a light and delicious soup that is extremely tomato forward. The only thing missing is a grilled cheese! Hmmm… Hyrule does have cheese now… but that’s another recipe. Let’s focus on the tomato stew for now!
Ingredients
1 onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
12 vine ripened red tomatoes
2 vine ripened yellow tomatoes
¼ cup basil leaves, chopped, plus more for garnish
2-3 cups chicken stock
1 cup milk
1 tsp salt
½ tsp black pepper
½ tbsp sugar
2 tbsp tomato paste
4-6 red Campari tomatoes, for garnish
2-3 yellow Campari tomatoes, for garnish
Olive oil
The first thing we want to do is peel the tomatoes. Removing the skin will allow for a smoother soup when we purée it at the end. I take this same approach for tomato sauces as well.
Remove the stems and core from all 12 of the red vine ripened tomatoes and the 2 yellow vine ripened tomatoes. Slice the tomatoes in half lengthwise and arrange just 10 of the red vine ripened tomatoes on a foiled baking tray cut side down. Place the other 2 red and 2 yellow tomatoes off to the side for now. Broil the tomatoes on high for 10-15 minutes until the skin wrinkles and lifts from the tomatoes, blackening a little. Once the tomatoes are done, remove from the oven and set aside to cool.
Once the tomatoes are cool enough to handle, peel the skin from each tomato, and reserve the partially softened tomatoes in a bowl.
Set a Dutch oven or large pot over medium heat. Once warm, add one or two tablespoons of olive oil and coat the bottom of the pot. Add the onions and sauté for 3-5 minutes, until soft and translucent. Add the garlic and sauté for one minute.
Add the peeled tomatoes, along with the reserved juices, into the Dutch oven. Use a potato masher to partially crush the tomatoes, and then add the salt, black pepper, sugar, and chicken stock. Stir them contents together and allow the contents to come to a low boil. Reduce the heat to low and allow the tomatoes to simmer for 15 minutes.
While the tomatoes are simmering, remove the seeds from the remaining halves of the 2 red and 2 yellow tomatoes, and then chop the tomatoes.
After 15 minutes, remove the pot from heat and use an immersion blender to fully purée the soup until it is smooth. Add the tomato paste, chopped tomatoes, and chopped Basil. Stir to work the tomato paste into the soup and blend the contents. Bring the soup back to a simmer and allow it to simmer for an additional 15 minutes. The soup should begin to thicken a little and the chopped tomatoes will soften.
After the 15 minutes, remove the soup from the heat one more time, stir in the milk completely, and then return to to the heat to simmer for 5 more minutes.
While the soup it finishing, pluck a few more whole basil leaves for garnish and slice the Campari tomatoes in half horizontally along the center.
After 5 minutes, remove the soup from the heat and salt the soup to taste, if needed. It is now done! To serve, pour a few ladles into a soup bowl. Garnish with whole basil leaves, and halves of the Campari tomatoes as shown in the photo. Enjoy!
Learn more about the Fruity Tomato Stew dish from The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom at Zelda Dungeon.