Roasted Tomato Soup
Soup season is among us!!!! YAYYY!! This implies a couple of very important things, all of which I just NEED to communicate to you now:
Number one: it's officially time for girls far and wide and all over the planet to enjoy their annual –and much anticipated– Gilmore Girls rewatch. Because, is it even fall/winter/Christmas/the holidays/a good day, if you’re not tuning in for Lorelai and Rory’s Friday night dinner drama? I don’t think so.
Number two! It is now socially acceptable to spend 200 plus dollars on candles, especially if said candles include the following smells: vanilla, cinnamon, marshmallow, pumpkin, apple, pecan, pine, and winter. Yes, winter is a scent. I don’t make the rules!!
Number three: it is mandatory to have at least one self-care night a week, which includes, but is obvs not limited to: holiday pajamas, cookie baking, cocoa drinking, online shopping, and, of course, Christmas movie-watching. I will personally be doing that every day for the foreseeable future, thank you very much.
And last but certainly not least, number four: soup must make up at least 50% percent of your diet. Because it just makes everything better this time of year! What’s better than burning a new holiday candle for the first time? Burning it while you enjoy a hot bowl of soup on a chilly night, duh! Soup is also said to make Gilmore Girl marathons and self-care nights 10 times more enjoyable, according to science. Totally. I swear.
And when it comes to soup, you know tomato soup is that girl. She’s the Miss Universe of soups, if you will. Truth hurts sometimes, sorry!! But what’s better than regular, trusty tomato soup? ROASTED tomato soup.
This is my favorite soup recipe ever, and it’s so easy to make. Plus, it reheats super well, so you can stock up on it for the holiday season. If you make it, please DM me a pic on instagram @vanillabeandiaries ! I’d love to see how it turns out. Xoxo <3
Roasted Tomato Soup
*serves 6-8
Ingredients
For the roasted tomatoes:
1 kg roma tomatoes, stems removed and cut into sixths
700 g cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
8 garlic cloves, unpeeled
4 tbsp (1/4 cup) extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp smoked paprika
For the rest of the soup:
2 tbsp salted butter
4 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
1 large white onion, peeled and finely chopped
4 cups chicken stock or chicken broth
1/2 cup heavy cream, plus more for serving
Salt & freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, measured and then roughly chopped, plus more for garnish
Instructions
1) First, make the roasted tomatoes: Preheat your oven to 425°F (220° C) and line a large baking sheet with rimmed edges with aluminum foil. While the oven finishes preheating, slice your tomatoes and prep your garlic cloves, if you haven’t already.
2) Once preheated, arrange both kinds of tomatoes, along with the unpeeled garlic, on your prepared tray. Evenly drizzle the olive oil over everything, then sprinkle on the paprika, along with a generous pinch of salt, and a few good grindings of black pepper. Using clean hands, toss and mix to coat the tomatoes and the garlic with the oil and seasonings. Arrange tomatoes with their cut side facing up. Roast in the oven for 40-55 minutes, or until the surface of the tomatoes look a bit charred and, well, roasted. *This is super important for flavor! You don’t want them to burn, just to have some char and color on the top. While they roast, start on the next step.
3) In a large dutch oven or pot, melt the salted butter over medium-low heat. Then, add in your chopped white onion, sautéing for 8-10 minutes and stirring frequently, until it has turned translucent and soft. It shouldn’t get toasted, burnt or brown, so keep an eye on it and lower the heat if needed! Add in the chopped garlic, and cook for another 1-2 minutes, making sure to not burn the garlic either. At this point, of your tomatoes aren’t done roasting yet, you can turn off the stove and leave this to the side while they finish cooking.
4) Once tomatoes are done roasting, take them out of the oven and place the garlic that roasted on the tray in a separate dish. Scrape the tomatoes on the baking sheet along with all the juices they released while cooking into the dutch oven with the sautéed onions. Once they’ve cooled enough so you can touch them without burning yourself, squeeze in the garlic flesh from the whole roasted cloves into the dutch oven as well. The stove should not be on at this point, you don’t want to make the contents inside the dutch oven any hotter yet.
5) Add in your chicken stock into the pot and give it a mix. Being careful to wait until the mixture inside the pot isn’t so hot, so as to not splash and burn yourself, use a handheld immersion blender to blend everything until it is completely smooth and velvety, taking your time to get every last chunk. *You could also do this in a regular blender! Just work in batches, until the whole mixture is smooth and fully blended.
6) Once the mixture has been blended to a velvety smooth consistency and returned to the dutch oven, turn on the stove and bring the soup up to a simmer over medium-high. Once it’s reached a simmer, decrease the heat to low and let it reduce at the gentlest of simmers, for 15-25 minutes, or until it’s as thick as you want it. This is all up to preference: if you like a thicker soup, reduce it for longer; if you want a thinner consistency, little simmering is the key. However, keep in mind that it will thin out slightly when you add the cream, as it is additional liquid.
7) When the soup is done simmering and you’ve got it to your desired consistency, turn off the heat. Stir in the heavy cream, and taste for seasoning, adjusting salt and pepper as you wish. I like this soup to have generous amount of pepper, so this is where I'd freshly grind some on top. Finally, mix in your chopped basil leaves.
8) To serve, ladle the hot soup into cute bowls, add a drizzle of cream on top, as well as a few grinds of black pepper, and finish by garnishing with whole, fresh basil leaves. Serve alongside hot, melty grilled cheese.
*Other soup topping ideas: The soup bowl is your oyster! You could also garnish it with croutons, baguette slices, freshly grated parmesan cheese, a drizzle of some runny pesto, or even add bocconcini (aka mini fresh mozzarella balls) INSIDE the soup, so they get all melty and delicious and its like finding a present when you’re eating it!! … Running to the grocery store ASAP so I can make it like that for dinner.
