Roasted Tomato Soup

Update:  I have a new version of tomato soup that I love and highly recommend!  
Check it out here- My Favorite Tomato Soup {Paleo} 🙂

Sometimes there’s nothing better than a bowl of warm tomato soup.  And can I get a woot woot for the good ol’ classic tomato soup & grilled cheese combo?!  Yummm!  So I made some tomato soup (and yes, a grilled cheese to go with it).  This is a roasted tomato version… a spin off of a Tyler Florence recipe I spotted a while back.  It’s pretty delish, I gotta say- simple, yet with a subtle twist of basil and thyme and some red pepper flakes to spice it up a wee (it’s not spicy, but spiced, if that makes sense).  What makes this soup so tasty is that the tomatoes, onions, and garlic are roasted first, so the flavors are really oomphed up- much more so than if you were to use a can of tomatoes, for example.  If you just want soup sans grilled cheese, you can make little garlic toasts or croutons to go with your soup- nom nom!  Or you can have both 🙂  Choose your finxings and enjoy!

Heads up- this is not the quickest soup to make in the world… since the veggies are roasted first for about a half hour and then the soup is cooked more for about another half hour, you need a while to make this, at least if you wanna make it like this!  It’s not a difficult recipe- pretty simple steps, and it’s not one of those meals you need to move a million miles and hour to make- you just need time. So if you have it (and a hankering for tomato soup!), toss this together and cook up some grilled cheese or other goodies, or simply sit back and watch tv while things are cooking and enjoy 🙂

5 large tomatoes- plum, heirloom, or other sweet variety

1 yellow onion

5-6 garlic cloves

3 large sprigs of fresh thyme (or about 1 tsp dried)

1 quart chicken broth (I prefer low-sodium)

1/2 cup milk or half and half, more as needed

1/8 to 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes, depending on preferred spice

2 bay leaves

3-4 large fresh basil leaves, about 1/4 cup

salt and pepper, to taste

olive oil, approx. 1/4 cup

* couple small basil leaves, for garnish

Preheat oven to 450 degrees

Cut tomatoes into quarters

Peel garlic cloves and quarter onion

In a large baking dish, toss tomatoes, onion, garlic, and thyme

together with a generous drizzle of olive oil

Sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper

 Roast for about 20-30 minutes, until onions begin to

blacken around edges and tomatoes caramelize

Transfer roasted tomatoes, onions, etc into a large pot

Add bay leaves and about 1/2 of the chicken broth

Heat until boiling, then lower heat and let simmer for

about 20 minutes until the broth has reduced to about 1/3

Pour ingredients into a food processor and blend until smooth

*I like soups with a teensy chunk and texture, so I don’t completely

puree (mostly- I just leave a little texture), but it’s totally your choice 🙂

Return soup back to pot

Leave heat on low/simmer

Chop up basil

Stir basil into soup and add red pepper flakes

Start with a small pinch- about 1/8 tsp tsp and as more as desired

Add milk or half and half (obviously the latter makes it more

creamy, but the first is healthier- you choose… maybe a combo?!)

Taste soup for seasonings- it is likely it will need quite a good

dose of salt still- it will depend on your tomatoes, broth, etc- check and adjust as you like

Return bay leaves to pot (optional), cover, and let simmer for about

10 more minutes or until you can’t wait any longer haha

*If the soup needs toning down in any way (spice or salt) or you’d just like it smoother or creamier, add more milk/half and half- I found that I started with less and then added more as I went- keep adding until you get what you like, as with everything when cooking!

Serve up and garnish with basil…