Roasted Tomato Basil Soup
Our garden is booming! Bright red spheres everywhere! Hiding beneath the vines, on the ground, and between the leaves. If our garden does produce one thing exceedingly well, it’s TOMATOES! I have harvested over 100lbs this year alone. Tomatoes are an excellent source of vitamin A, C, K, B6, folate and thiamin just to name a few. They also contain potassium, manganese, magnesium, phosphorous and copper. BOOM…
The tomato is the most versatile player in the garden game. Eaten raw, cooked, pureed, sautéed, boiled, roasted, dried and pulverized, this useful fruit boasts a high yield of wonderful meals and accompaniments throughout the year! We enjoy marinara, salsa, stewed tomatoes, roasted tomatoes, dehydrated tomatoes, pureed tomatoes, tomato soup and tomato sauce all year long. I like to prepare our bounty several different ways to keep the meals fresh, delicious and new!
I came up with this recipe one afternoon after staring at piles of freshly picked tomatoes. I decided to roast them with some carrots, onion and garlic for an earthy flavor, puree to a smooth consistency and add a little half and half (and some seasonings), for a creamy finish. This soup is fantastic!
INGREDIENTS:
- 12-14 medium/large Roma tomatoes
- 2 TBSP minced garlic (fresh if you have it handy)
- 1 large sweet onion
- 2 large carrots washed and chunked
- 1/4 cup olive oil for drizzling
- 14.5 oz can chicken broth
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 TBSP dried basil
- 1/4 tsp dried chili pepper flakes
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 2 TBSP sugar
- 2/3 cup half and half (heavy cream or 2% milk works here too)
INSTRUCTIONS:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
Wash and cut off the tops of the tomatoes. Cut lengthwise and face up in a shallow baking pan. Quarter one sweet onion and toss into the pan as well. Add the chunked carrots and minced garlic. Drizzle the olive oil over everything. Roast in the oven for about 1 hour (I went 1 hour and 15 minutes to blacken the tops a little more).
Remove from oven. With a slotted spoon, remove tomatoes, onions, carrots and garlic. Leave the juice behind. Place everything into a pot on the stove top. Add one can of chicken broth, salt, black pepper, sugar, dried basil (or fresh if you have it), and red pepper flakes.
With an immersion blender or old school blender, blend until smooth! I like a few chunks so I didn’t get too crazy. Just enough to incorporate all of the ingredients. Simmer on the stove top for about 15 minutes or so.
Add the cream and give it a good stir to warm it through. Serve immediately or this freezes very well too! Slurp it up with a nice crusty loaf of bread or a delicious grilled cheese SAMMICH! YUMMMMMMY! ENJOY this garden fresh MATER SOUP!
