Roasted Tomato Soup

Here in the foothills growing tomatoes can be a tough go, at least at my house where the garden is out in the open. Due to our proximity to the Rocky Mountains our nights are cool, even on very warm days. That makes growing warm weather foods like tomatoes, peppers, or basil a challenge without a greenhouse or cloches. Despite that, many years I am prone to giving in and picking up a few tomato plants on one of my many spring trips to the nursery. I just don’t seem to be able to help myself.

Some years we get lucky and get a nice bounty of fresh red and yellow tomatoes, many years I wonder why I bother. Because our growing season is so short, we also find that all of the tomatoes seem to ripen at about the same time. It seems like it is feast or famine. We either get a whole pile of green unripened tomatoes or we get all of our yummy red ones in one huge bunch.

What to do?

I’ve become sorta lazy and don’t really love canning so much anymore. It always seems like a lot of work to make something that often lingers in the pantry forever. Last year I did make salsa from my girlfriend Judy’s recipe, which was fabulous and helped me to use up a ton of tomatoes, all of which ripened while hanging in my garage. I also love the flavour of roasted tomatoes and this method is another great way to preserve the season as they freeze really well.

Roasting tomatoes is super easy. You basically just cut tomatoes in half, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt. Lay them out on a baking sheet covered with parchment (or not) and roast at 400° until they are a bit blackened and beginning to shrivel.

This roasted tomato soup is a bit of a mashup – a combination of a few different recipes. As the season draws to a close it is a great way to preserve that summer tomato goodness as it also freezes really well, meaning that in the dead of winter I can pull out a warm toasty reminder of summer.

Roasted Tomato Soup

Author: www.miasdailydish.com

A full flavoured tomato soup, perfect to eat now or to freeze. You'll never looked at canned soup the same way again!

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Ingredients

Roasted Tomatoes

• 3 lbs fresh tomatoes
• olive oil
• Sea salt to taste

Soup

• 2 Tbsp ghee butter or coconut oil
• 2 medium onions sliced
• 2 large carrots diced
• pinch of salt
• 3-4 garlic cloves
• 2 Tbsp tomato paste
• 1/4 C fresh basil or 2 Tbsp dried
• 4 C chicken broth
• 3 lbs tomatoes roasted and chopped
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tsp honey or to taste
• extra basil leaves for garnish

Instructions

For the roasted tomatoes

1. Preheat oven to 400 °
2. Cut tomatoes in half and place, cut side up, on a baking sheet lined with foil and lightly greased
3. Drizzle lightly with olive oil and sprinkle a bit of salt on each tomato
4. Roast for 1 hour. Tomatoes will be shrivelled and may begin to blacken a bit on the edges
5. Cool, use immediately or freeze in airtight container or freezer bag. (If freezing them, place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper in freezer until firm. This will keep them from freezing together into one lump)

For the soup

1. Sweat the onion and carrot by sautéing gently for 10 or 15 minutes in 1 Tbsp oil. Sprinkle a pinch of salt over the vegetables in the pan to draw out their juices.
2. Stir in garlic and tomato paste and saute for just a few minutes (do not burn the garlic)
3. Add chicken broth, basil and tomatoes
4. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally
5. Taste and season with salt and pepper
6. Add just enough honey to smooth out the tartness of the tomatoes
7. Serve with a garnish of basil chiffonade if desired