It still amazes me how many tomatoes I grew this year. I discovered so many ways to utilize them and I think this tomato and basil soup recipe from Ambitious Kitchen was the best.
It is chocked full of tomatoes, garlic, onions and fresh basil and makes a perfect addition with your grilled cheese on a chilly day.
I did my soup over the span of 2 days so I wouldn’t be putting hot tomatoes in my already-starting-to-fall-apart food processor.
The Recipe is below or you can follow the above link to the original:
For the roasted tomatoes
3 pounds roma or plum tomatoes, cut in half
8 cloves garlic, peeled
3 tablespoons olive oil
Freshly ground salt and pepper
For the caramelized onions:
½ tablespoon olive oil
2 yellow onions, thinly sliced
Additions to the soup:
½ cup packed basil leaves
½ teaspoon dried oregano
1-2 cups water or vegetarian broth, depending on how thick you want the soup
Freshly ground salt and pepper, to taste
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Place halved tomatoes and garlic cloves on the baking sheet and drizzle with 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Generously season with salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for 40-45 minutes.
While the tomatoes are roasting, you can make the caramelized onions: Add 1/2 tablespoon olive oil to a large pot and place over medium heat. Add the onion slices and stir to coat the onions with olive oil. Cook, stirring occasionally. Check onions every 5-10 minutes until they have completely caramelized and turned golden in color. This usually takes 20 minutes.
Once tomatoes and garlic are done roasting, allow them to cool for 10 minutes, then add them to a food processor or high powered blender and blend until smooth. Next add basil and caramelized onions and blend again. Alternatively you can add the tomatoes to the large pot and use an immersion blender. It's really just about what you have available to you.
After blending, transfer back to pot, turn to medium low heat and add in oregano, vegetarian broth and salt and pepper to taste. From there you can add in any additional add-ons you want (as listed in the ingredients). Allow tomato soup to simmer 10 minutes before serving. To serve, garnish with parmesan cheese and serve with grilled cheese, if desired. Serves 4.
The website also has a few variations you can play with but I enjoyed the above recipe with no alterations, plus I knew I’d be portioning it off for freezing (soup season prep crucial) and I figured it would freeze better with no creamy additives.
Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
