Oven Roasted Tomato Basil Soup

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Still waiting! This recipe skips all of that hard work. Easy, aromatic, and delicious — and  makes the house smell wonderful at the same time.

Oven Roasted Tomato and Basil Soup

Easy prep. Check. Excellent taste. Check. Makes the house smell like an Italian restaurant. Check!

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Course: Soup

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

• 10-12 (3-4 lbs) tomatoes of various varieties, quartered, halved or whole, depending upon variety size Beefsteak, plum, cherry, yellow, purple, etc. This is a great way to use all those surplus cherry tomatoes from the garden.
• 2 large onions, quartered
• 4-6 large cloves garlic, whole
• 2 med jalapeno peppers, seeded and halved This gives the soup a bit of a kick. If you want a more subtle kick, use 1; big kick, use 3; no kick, omit.
• 2-3 med mild peppers (red, orange or yellow) Green peppers are not recommended unless you want a strong pepper component to your soup.
• vegetable oil (olive or avocado) for drizzling
• fresh ground pepper
• 4 c chicken or vegetable broth
• 1 tbsp fresh oregano, finely chopped or ½ tsp dried oregano
• 1 tbsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped or ½ tsp dried rosemary
• 1 tbsp fresh thyme or ½ tsp dried thyme
• salt to taste
• 3 tbsp chopped fresh basil or 1 tsp dried basil
• 3 tbsp chopped fresh parsley or 1 tsp dried parsley
• white vinegar to taste

Method

 

1. Preheat oven to 400℉. Line a cookie sheet with a foil paper (heavy duty, if you have it). Or if using the convection setting, which will make things go faster but with less control (possibility of too much charring), preheat to 375℉.
2. Wash and cut up your veggies as described in the ingredients. Spread them out evenly on the cookie sheet, and then pepper and drizzle with vegetable oil.
   
3. Roast vegetables in the oven until charred and most of the vegetable juices have evaporated. This can take up to two hours or more. (Or 40-50 minutes on the convection setting. Keep a close eye on your veggies so they don't get too charred.)
   
4. About 30 minutes before your vegetables are done, heat the broth with the oregano, thyme, and rosemary in a deep soup pot (to avoid getting too messy with the immersion blender). Bring to a boil and then turn down the heat to simmer on low.
   
5. When your vegetables are roasted to your liking, carefully lift them with the foil paper and slide the vegetables and all the juices directly into the simmering broth.
   
6. Use the immersion blender to liquefy all the veggies to your desired texture. Salt to taste and then continue to simmer on low for about 10 minutes.
   
7. Five minutes before serving, add chopped basil and parsley to the pot. Continue to simmer until ready to dish. Check flavor to see if the soup needs more definition, i.e. if it's too "tomato sweet," depending on the tomato variety/varieties you used. If it does, add a small splash of vinegar. (Just a little, because you can always add more, but it is hard to negate a strong vinegar taste if you put in too much.)
   
8. Serve with or without Parmesan and crostini, or with your favorite grilled cheese sandwich.
   

Notes

If you want a creamy version of this soup, add heavy cream to your soup after adding the basil and parsley. Don't let the soup simmer after adding dairy (it might curdle and/or separate), but you can let it stay warm with a very low flame/heat.