tomato soup

All year-long I wait for tomato season. Late in May I put my new baby tomato plants into the earth, with my crazy old-country rules like adding fish emulsion in the hole first, and tuck them in amongst marigolds and basil.  Faith to me is found in a garden. It takes a lot of faith and attentiveness to see the final product several weeks later, sun-kissed and glorious  on the vine.

Have I romanticized tomatoes a bit? No. My love for summer time tomatoes runs deep. They taste like sunshine feels. I plant as many varieties as I can, which means I end up with a medley of heirloom, Roma, beefsteak, and cherry tomatoes on hand. Therefore, any recipe I make is not tomato variety specific. They all work together in my kitchen.

Is there a better comfort food than a bowl of tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich? Any time of year, I find that a bowl of roasted tomato soup soothes the soul. It is healthy, and easy to make, and with the abundance of tomatoes, makes good use of fresh ingredients. It also freezes! So make a batch and save it for a rainy day. In New England, it’s cold from September to May, so there’s plenty of “soup” days.

Now, when I say making this soup is easy, I don’t mean pop off the lid of the can or even remove the tab off the container and pour easy, but as far as soup is concerned, this is fairly simple. You slice your tomatoes, peel some garlic, arrange on a sheet pan, drizzle with olive oil, sea salt, and pepper. Roast. Blend with broth. Add your extras (heavy cream, cheese, etc.) if you want – but you won’t need them, and enjoy. The finished product is so much better than anything you could imagine, and if you have the tomatoes…

For this recipe, I use whatever tomatoes I have in my garden. But, this could be made with just one type of tomato. If you have to commit I say go with Roma, because they are just beautiful and fleshy. The beauty of the flavor for this recipe is in the roasting. I filled two parchment lined cookie sheets with tomato halves, and placed them cut side down. I also used a whole head of garlic which was peeled (you can usually purchase garlic pre peeled in your produce section if this is too time consuming). and interspersed the garlic with the tomatoes. Drizzle with olive oil. Now, spices you can embellish, I go for simple. Then roast. 350* for as long as it takes for the skin to brown and bubble. I love the carmelization

that takes place. So. Good. At this point you could just eat the tomatoes as is on top of ricotta toast, on a salad, with quinoa.  But these are for soup! So transfer those beauties into the blending device of your choice.

I add chicken stock, but if you want to keep this vegetarian or vegan, vegetable stock will work as well. I used one container of good chicken stock I purchased did not make myself. If you have a container of home-made stock on hand, have at it. You can add fresh basil or any other spice you like at this point as well.

Using an immersion blender, food processor, or even a blender, combine tomatoes and stock until well blended. When I am done blending there are no visible seeds or huge chunks of tomato, I just puree it until it is smooth.

At this point, your soup is ready to go. If you want to get fancy you an add cream or milk, or grated cheese. Croutons or grilled cheese sandwiches are also welcome. For this batch, I had purchased cheese curds from a local dairy farm, and they were sprinkled on top with some fresh basil to finish the dish.

We are so fortunate at this time of year to enjoy the abundance of our local farmers, this soup really celebrates the beauty of fresh tomatoes that you can!

I hope you enjoy this recipe, and as always, thank you for coming to the table!

Chrissy

Printable Recipe

Easy Roasted Tomato Soup

Easy Roasted Tomato Soup

By Chrissy@mythankfultable.com

Ingredients:

Fresh tomatoes (I use enough to fill two large cookie sheets when halved)

One head of garlic

Olive oil, to drizzle

Sea salt

Pepper

One large container of stock of your choice (chicken or vegetable)

 

Directions:

Slice tomatoes in half, and place, cut side down, onto parchment lined cookie sheet

Peel garlic and place amongst tomatoes

Drizzle with olive oil, sea salt, and fresh cracked pepper

 

Bake at 350* for 50 minutes or more, until tomatoes are roasted and caramelized.

Place roasted tomatoes and garlic in food processor or in stock pot with stock of choice, and blend (I use the immersion blender)

Blend until smooth.

 

Add milk, cream, cheese, additional herbs to taste if desired.