Recipe: Roasted Tomato Basil Soup
Alright ya'all, a fall favorite of mine: tomato soup!
When I was little I would dunk a grilled cheese into mom's tomato soup on a cold winter day. I love those type of food memories from childhood that bring you back to family traditions.
Tomatoes are abundant at the farmer's markets right now. Truth be told I am not a huge fan of raw tomatoes unless they are sweet and juicy perfectly ripe heirlooms. However, roast one up with olive oil and that's a horse of a different color. I love to throw roasted tomatoes into gluten-free pasta and toss with spinach and a high quality Parmesan ( a recipe for another day!).
Tomatoes are full of antioxidants, vitamin C and biotin(which is great for your hair, skin and nails).
Alright... on to the recipe. This recipe is SO SO easy. If you can chop, spread ingredients on a baking sheet and turn ON your oven, then you are good to go here!
I love the versatility of soup and how you can have fun mixing and matching flavors, herbs and toppings.
For this recipe, choose your favorite tomatoes (sweet tomatoes work well), any color (red, yellow or orange) as well as your favorite peppers - I chose yellow (these are optional...if you don't love the taste of peppers leave these out and add in a few more tomatoes). All of the veggies can be loosely chopped, and mixed and matched. This is a no stress, no fuss and minimal effort recipe. I hope you enjoy!!
--- RECIPE ---
You'll need:
3 lbs fresh tomatoes (in a variety of your choosing)
1- 2 bell peppers (color of your choice, I used yellow because they're my favorite and I thought they pair nicely with orange tomatoes).
1 sweet onion
6 cloves fresh garlic
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves
Approx 1/3 cup organic first cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt
Cracked pepper
Pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)
To make:
Pre-heat oven 400'. Wash and halve tomatoes (I also took out the eye of the tomato). Wash peppers and remove the seed and membrane. Then cut in half and again in half so you have quarter sized cubes. You don't have to use 2 peppers, I did because I love roasted peppers. I think red peppers would be nice in this recipe too but use whatever you have on hand.
Chopped tomatoes:
Chopped peppers:
Chopped Onions:
Whole fresh garlic:
Loose chop an onion and peel 6 cloves of fresh garlic. Then add tomatoes, peppers, onions and garlic to a bowl and toss with EVOO and spices (optional). Lay out all your veggies on a baking sheet face up (see pic).
Ready for the oven:
Roast for 40 minutes then with a wooden spoon, move mixture around a bit. You'll start to see some great juices coming out of the veggies. Add your washed basil leaves to the sheet and toss again to evenly incorporate. Roast another 40 mins. The mixture will be extremely juicy and fragrant.
After 40 mins..
Add Basil and roast for 40 more minutes...
Add the hot veggies and delicious juice to your high speed blender and blend for about 1 minute(until the basil leaves are nice and mixed in). If you like your soup on the thinner side, add 1/2 cup of organic vegetable stock before blending. You can also add contents to a large pot and use a hand blender. Whatever you have on hand!
Smelling lovely:
Blend it all up until smooth:
Ready to eat!
Store: I pour leftovers into glass jars and pop one in the freezer and the other in the fridge.
Toppings, optional: toasted sunflower seeds, parmesan cheese, hemp seeds, gluten-free croutons, chopped fresh basil.
*Vegan *Gluten-Free *Paleo *Dairy-Free *Nut-Free *Soy-Free
What is your favorite homemade soup combination or soup topping??
Recipe: Roasted Tomato Basil Soup - This recipe is easy! If you can chop, spread ingredients on baking sheet and turn ON your oven, then you are good to go!