Soup's On, Part III: Roasted Tomato Soup

A few posts ago I talked about how roasting tomatoes enhances their flavor.  Roasted tomatoes are great by themselves, but there are also so many things that can be done with them.  One option is turning them into soup.  The other day, tomatoes were super cheap at the market, so I bought a whole bagfull with the intention of cooking up a batch of fresh, nummy roasted tomato and red pepper soup.

To roast tomatoes for a soup, I slice them in half, remove the base of the stem, any white or green areas, and as much of the seeds as possible.  You don't want to remove the whole inside of the tomato- there is a lot of flesh there.  Only the very wet seed areas get removed.  I actually reserve the seeds and other parts that I remove, and let them drain in a mesh strainer over a bowl so I can collect the juice.  A flat-bottomed bowl or small plate on top of the tomato parts helps facilitate the draining; leave it, and you'll have a good amount of juice by the time the tomatoes are done roasting.

The tomato halves get arranged skin side down on a baking sheet and drizzled with a little olive oil, salt, black pepper, herbs, and a touch of balsamic vinegar.  Rosemary, parsley or basil are nice options.  Roast them for at least 30 minutes at about 350; depending on the size of the tomato, they can be roasted up to an hour or so.  I roast them longer for a soup than if I were going to serve them intact.

To start the soup, I sautee onions in a mixture of butter and veg oil, with salt and pepper to taste, until just soft.  You can go for a whole mirepoix if you like for a base flavor, but I think a simple base of onions works well with this dish, as there is so much flavor developed by the roasting.  I like to add red pepper flakes with the onions to give them time to flavor the oil.  Then I toss in some finely chopped garlic and cook about another minute.

If I am making a roasted red pepper and tomato soup, the peppers get chopped and added after the garlic has cooked a bit.  It is easy to roast your own peppers, especially if you are already roasting the tomatoes, but jarred roasted red peppers are a good option.  It doesn't take much, since roasted red peppers have a strong flavor.  After the peppers, the tomatoes go in.  Once the soup has simmered for a few minutes, I blend everything together until smooth, then add as much of the strained tomato juice as I need to get the desired thickness.

Taste and adjust seasoning as necessary, and it is ready to serve!  Or instead, you can make it into a cream soup by adding cream right before serving.  For a garnish, fresh basil or green onions are nice.  Grilled cheese is another nice garnish...

Happy eating!