Happy mistake: When you’ve got extra ears of corn, make tomato corn soup

Anyone who has ever had their groceries delivered will understand what happened.

I ordered four pieces of corn on the cob and received four packages of four. In other words, I had 16 ears of corn on my hands.

Sure, I could have made a fuss. Instead, I made Tomato Corn Soup, which turned out to be a lovely addition to dinner — a happy mistake, if you will.

This recipe is nothing if not flexible. Use frozen corn if that’s easier. Skip the bacon and sauté the aromatics in olive oil. Use a can of diced tomatoes in place of fresh if that’s what’s on hand.

And play with the heat. Depending on your tolerance level, you could add a sliced poblano pepper and sauté it with the onion and garlic. Even a jalapeño would work here. How about a big splash of Tabasco sauce? I opted for ½ cup of hot salsa because that’s what I had in the fridge. I added it after blending because I liked the few chunks of tomato and pepper in the soup.

While it’s often easy to skip the garnish, I highly recommend using all or some combination of the ingredients here. The corn is sweet and the cream is rich so the addition of the cheese, chips, parsley and bacon give it a nice salty crunch and texture.

This recipe is easily doubled using eight ears of corn and four cups of broth.

Whatever way you decide to adapt this recipe, make it your own happy mistake.

• M. Eileen Brown is a longtime suburban Chicago journalist and media executive, and an incurable soup-a-holic.

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Tomato Corn Soup

4 ears fresh or 3 cups frozen, thawed corn kernels

2 medium tomatoes, roughly chopped

2 cups broth, veggie or chicken

1 teaspoon dried oregano

4 slices bacon

1 onion, chopped (about 1 cup)

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

½ cup salsa (optional)

½ cup heavy cream

3 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

½ cup crumbled queso fresco or feta cheese

Tortilla chips or fried tortilla strips

If using fresh corn, scrape kernels from cobs using small sharp knife or spoon. Place half of the corn kernels in blender with tomatoes, 2 cups of broth, and oregano. Blend until smooth. Set aside.

In a large saucepan over medium heat, cook bacon, turning once until brown and crisp, about 10 minutes. Remove bacon to a plate lined with a paper towel to drain. Set aside. Add onion to bacon fat in saucepan and cook, stirring frequently until the onion is soft and translucent. Add garlic and stir for another minute.

Add tomato-corn puree to saucepan. Bring to a low boil and add the remaining whole corn kernels. Simmer over medium-low heat until thickened, about 15 minutes. Stir occasionally and remove any foam as it develops with a large, flat metal spoon. Season with salt and pepper. Mix in the salsa, half of the parsley and the cream and heat through.

To serve, garnish with crumbled bacon, remaining parsley, crumbled cheese and tortilla chips.

Serves four.

— Adapted from foodnetwork.com