Not My Best Work

As I ran on the treadmill last night after work, I distracted myself by dreaming about my dinner. I had marinated some ground lamb in Indian spices (garam masala, cumin, coriander, red pepper) and planned to make koftas (aka meatballs). I debated on the side dish. I had some spinach I could saute but that wouldn't fill me up. I'd rather not eat too much rice or other carbs. Then I remembered that I had a can of tomato puree in the fridge that needed to be finished. What if I made a tomato soup from it? I planned the recipe in my head. Saute some garlic and cumin seeds in olive oil, add the puree and simmer. It would be so simple, and I had cooked tomatoes like this in the past with good results.
You may be wondering now what is tomato puree. It is found in the organic food section and has far less sodium than other canned tomato products. Other than that, it is pretty much like tomato sauce. Which means the consistency is like tomato sauce. Which means it does not make a good soup.
I started cooking with gusto. I sauted the garlic, toasted the cumin seeds, sniffed the wonderful aroma. Then I poured in the tomato puree, noting as I poured that it seemed rather...thick. So I decided to add milk. Then I decided to add wine. After adding all that liquid, the puree was still begging to be spread on a crust and topped with mozarella. And my wonderful flavors of garlic and cumin were lost. I doused the "soup" with some ground cumin to no avail. It tasted like tomato sauce. Definitely not my best work.
Despite all that, I ate some of the soup for dinner. Then I ate some more for lunch. I think I'm done eating tomato puree. More to come on a successful recipe for tomato garlic soup with cumin.