tomato basil soup recipe

I've made Ina's recipe for Roasted Tomato Basil many times. It looks long because most of it includes my notes of personal preferences/changes I made. It's quite easy and very tasty. Otherwise, there are a gazillion simple recipes out there.

3 pounds ripe plum tomatoes, cut in half
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons good olive oil
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
2 cups chopped yellow onions (2 onions)
6 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 (28-ounce) canned plum tomatoes, with their juice
4 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
1 quart chicken stock or water

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Toss together the tomatoes, 1/4 cup olive oil, salt, and pepper. Spread the tomatoes in one layer on a baking sheet and roast for 45 minutes.

In an 8-quart stockpot over medium heat, saute the onions and garlic with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, the butter, and red pepper flakes for 10 minutes, until the onions start to brown. Add the canned tomatoes, basil, thyme, and chicken stock. Add the oven-roasted tomatoes, including the liquid on the baking sheet. Bring to a boil and simmer uncovered for 40 minutes. Pass through a food mill fitted with the coarsest blade. Taste for seasonings. Serve hot or cold.


My Notes:

Roasting some of the tomatoes gives a much deeper flavor. As usual, I tinkered with the recipe.

I used more onions and about 3 pounds of plum tomatoes. Make sure to get the onions nice and brown. They cook down a lot which is why I used more. I wanted a stronger roasted tomato flavor so I used more of the plum tomatoes. I removed the tough end piece from the tomatoes before halving them. I put them on non stick foil to make sure I could get any caramelized juices off easily for the soup and I roasted them a good bit longer than the recipe called for. The juices mostly caramelized which added to the flavor since all of that goodness went into the soup. I thought about removing the skin, but opted not to. I also put a little dried basil on the halves with the salt and pepper before roasting them.

I used only about 2 cups of the fresh basil. I thought 4 cups was overkill and might bury the sweetness from the roasted tomatoes. I used more thyme than called for and eventually added a few sprigs to simmer in it. Worked out really well. I also simmered a few parmesan rinds in the mixture because I'd just bought some. They aren’t necessary.

I used more chicken stock than called for to get it to my desired texture. I used Swanson's for this and it was fine. Water probably would have been fine because the flavors were so good. I simmered it COVERED rather than uncovered so all the liquid wouldn’t evaporate too much. It still does evaporate somewhat, covered, but you can add whatever you need after pureeing.

I DID NOT run anything through a sieve. I pureed it in the pot with my immersion blender when it cooled.

This is yet another soup in which the exact measurements don't matter much unless you use too much liquid. While simmering the liquid cooks down and that was going to be too thick so I added a little more stock before I pureed it.

Next time I make it, I'll roast even more plum tomatoes. The canned is what provides a bit of body, so I'll use them again. Oh, and when I poured the canned into the pot, I took the tough end off each of those as well.

I thought about adding a little cream, but it was so creamy on it's own that I opted not to do it, but you could if you would like.

Roasted tomatoes, especially when seasoned with some nice herbs, provide a great base for soups and sauces. Roast some, puree and add a little cream and toss with pasta or just puree them and put the sauce over a boring boneless skinless chicken breast. Stick the puree in your fridge and it will hold a good while.

quote:

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4 cups basil, packed?!?!

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If you look at my notes, I used 2 cups because I thought that was overkill.