Roasted Tomato Soup

Next to strawberries, fresh tomatoes are my favorite produce of the summer’s bounty. From a simple tomato sandwich on very soft white bread to a fabulous tart on puff pastry, you have a lot of delicious food options for the humble tomato. To me, tomato soup is a perfect comfort food and made even better with the addition of a grilled cheese sandwich.

I hope you have been enjoying all of the good summer produce. I have visited the Farmers Market several times and been gifted with produce from friends with home gardens. Here are some lovely tomatoes and zucchini a friend gave to me today.

I make tomato soup quite often. If I make it when fresh tomatoes are not available, I use a good canned tomato product. I have already posted a favorite recipe for Cream of Tomato Soup using fresh tomatoes.

However, I noticed that a lot of food bloggers and cookbook authors were roasting the tomatoes prior to making the soup. I wanted to give that a try. I can confirm that roasting the tomatoes does intensify the flavor and sweetness of them.

Here are the tomatoes I used for this recipe. They were a larger size but perfectly fine for this recipe.

Recipe inspired by Roasted Tomato Soup from Tyler Florence.

Roasted Tomato Soup

Servings: 4
Difficulty: easy
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2 1/2 pounds fresh tomatoes
1/2 sweet onion, sliced
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper
2 1/2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
3 chopped fresh basil leaves
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 cup heavy cream
basil for garnish (optional)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Wash and dry the tomatoes. If desired, peel them. Cut the tomatoes in half or in quarters (depending on size). Place the tomatoes and onions on a large baking tray. Drizzle with the olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Roast for 25-30 minutes or until tomatoes soften and start to caramelize.

Remove the roasted tomatoes and onion from the oven and transfer to a large dutch oven or pot. Add the chicken or vegetable broth. Bring the mixture to a boil and then reduce the heat and simmer uncovered for 15-20 minutes or until soup thickens slightly. Remove from the heat and stir in the basil leaves. Use an immersion blender to puree the soup until desired smoothness. Add the butter and heavy cream. Serve warm, garnished with basil leaves.