Roasted Tomato Basil Soup

Dr. Kaitlynn Austin enjoys this recipe especially when she has a lot of tomatoes and basil to pick from her summer garden. Roasting the tomatoes, onions, and garlic gives the soup a better flavor. It goes great with grilled cheese.

Yield: About 6 servings

Ingredients
  • 2 1/4 lbs Roma tomatoes , halved lengthwise
  • 1 1/4 lbs Cherry tomatoes
  • 4 1/2 Tbsp olive oil
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 8 cloves garlic , peeled and left whole
  • 2 small yellow onions , sliced just under 1/2-inch thick
  • 2 cups (32g) lightly packed fresh basil leaves
  • 4 – 5 cups vegetable broth
  • Grilled cheese croutons (optional), see notes

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place tomatoes on a rimmed baking sheet and toss with 3 Tbsp olive oil then season with salt and pepper (place Roma halves cut side upright). Place onion slices and garlic on a rimmed half sheet and toss brush with remaining 1 1/2 Tbsp olive oil on all sides, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place baking sheet with tomatoes and half sheet with onions in oven side by side and roast onions 30 – 35 minutes until edges are golden, and tomatoes 40 – 45 minutes until golden.
  2. Peel away any burnt papery layers of onions if there are any. Pull peels from tomatoes (I didn’t do this with mine but later wished I would have so I’d recommend it so the soup isn’t loaded with peels. If you want some peel then I’d peel at least half).
  3. Pour onions and tomatoes into a large pot. Add 4 cups vegetable broth and the basil. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes, adding an additional 1 cup vegetable broth to thin as desired.
  4. Blend soup with an immersion blender or in small batches in a blender (only fill blender half full). Serve warm topped with grilled cheese croutons if desired.

 

Recipe source: Cooking Classy

Recipe Notes

For the grilled cheese croutons use 6 slices of hearty sandwich bread, brush outsides of all slices with 1/2 Tbsp of butter on each. Sprinkle about 1/2 cup (2 oz) shredded mozzarella or cheddar over non-buttered sides of three slices. Top with remaining 3 slices of bread with buttered side up. Cook in a non-stick skillet over medium heat, reducing to medium-low as needed, until bottom is golden brown. Flip and cook opposite side until golden. Cool just slightly then cut into squares.

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