A couple years ago we purchased a small raised garden. We would love to have a large garden, but we live in the woods with little room for the sun to shine through. The first year we planted tomatoes, peppers, and a few herbs in our small raised garden. The operative word is small…the tomato plants took over and nothing else did well. This year we only planted tomatoes, and they’ve done really well! Not enough tomatoes for me to can, but more than enough for eating. I see soup recipe reels online all the time that have you roast squash and peppers and onions, etc and then, using an immersion blender, turn them into soup. I decided to put the roasted vegetable concept to work with our heirloom tomato bounty, and it resulted in a really delicious pot of soup. Soup is true comfort food. No guarantees, but using this recipe in the middle of winter might even make those flavorless grocery store tomatoes taste good.

Ingredients:

3-4 pounds of tomatoes

1 large onion quartered

10-12 cloves of garlic unpeeled

1/4 cup of good olive oil

2 cups of chicken stock or broth

1/4 cup of fresh basil

1/2 cup half and half or heavy cream (optional)

1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Preheat your oven to 400°. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Depending on the size of your tomatoes cut them in halves or quarters. Separate the onion quarters and scatter them among the tomatoes along with the garlic cloves. Trimming the ends of the garlic a tad will make it easier to squeeze out the roasted garlic.

Pour the olive oil over the vegetables and roast for 50-60 minutes. The edges of the tomatoes and onions should be browning and blistering.

Dump all the veggies, including the juices, into a Dutch oven or large pot.

Remove the garlic cloves and squeeze the roasted garlic into the pot. Add the basil and chicken broth.

Hit the pot with an immersion blender and blend until smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes. If you don’t have a blender you could purée the soup in a blender or food processsor.

Add the half and half or heavy cream (if using) and the cheese.

Ladle hot soup into bowls and top with additional cheese, wonton strips, croutons, chiffonade of basil, or bacon. Whatever suits your fancy on tomato soup. Of course, tomato soup is delicious paired with a grilled cheese sandwich or a piece of crusty bread. If you have extra tomatoes I hope that you’ll give this a try.

NOTES: I used better than bouillon chicken broth but vegetable broth would also be excellent. Cream or half and half or cream cheese would make a little richer soup but are totally optional. Absolutely no need to peel the tomatoes…no hint of tomato skin after roasting and the immersion blender! As with any savory recipe, ingredients can be modified based on personal taste.