I LOVE GRILLED CHEESE AND TOMATO SOUP.
No matter how old I am, this will always be a staple in my household. I'll admit that most nights I opt for store-bought condensed soup and processed cheese but there is nothing better than homemade roasted tomato soup.
Okay. Guys. I am so excited!!!! You know how when you go to the grocery store and you're looking for that one specialty item, like tahini, harrisa, roasted red peppers, sundried tomatoes, etc. and you finally locate the item in the store after going down three wrong aisles, and what do you know! That specialty item is 2x smaller than any other container you're buying and 3x more expensive! Well, my friends, I cannot believe it took me this long to figure out a cheaper way, but I'm going to shout it out now: go to an international food market!!!
Seriously! I was blown away with the price differences. There was more variety in produce, reasonable prices. Bulk food. Everything I could ever want as a home cook. It was basically my dream store. I was able to score this lovely pack of sundried tomatoes for less than $2!!! When I was able to find sundried tomatoes for a price like that, I just knew I had to make some tomato soup with them.
As I am part Italian and feel in my foodie heart of hearts that this may be my strongest nationality connection, I don't go a day without eating garlic. So, what's better than just garlic? Roasted garlic. Mmmmhmm. So good. Sometimes I eat a clove of roasted garlic plain before adding it to my recipe...I can't help myself! It's so good! If you want to make this tomato soup POP, then add the sundried tomatoes and roasted garlic for some superb umami flavor.
Alright, so I've told you my secrets on how to make great roasted tomato soup. But if you're lazy like me then I can teach you how to make this dish an almost zero effort dish to clean up. Use parchment paper or a reusable baking sheet on your sheet pan. You can throw it out afterward or just quickly rinse it off with soapy water and BOOM, that pan can go back in its place. And for blenders? Easy peasy! Just put some soap and water in the blender when it's clean up time, blitz that soapy water a few times, rinse it out, and you're pretty much done! Just make sure you give it a once over to make sure there are no soupy leftovers left behind from the blitzing. The same method works for immersion blenders..but I don't recommend it for food processors as they are technically not made to handle liquid.
After your tomatoes, onion, and garlic are roasted (and your garlic is out of its 'skin'), just pop them all in your blender along with the sundried tomatoes, and whatever liquid was on the sheet pan. Blend that on up, thin it out with some cream or milk/alternative, and bam! Dinner is all ready to be served.
I mean just look how good this soup is! You can tell that it's homemade because it isn't perfectly smooth and there are little bits of charr in the soup to add flavor. Plus you taste it and it's a million times better than canned condensed tomato soup.
Just as a little extra...I find it so satisfying that my seven tomatoes, 1/2 onion, bulb of garlic, and 3 sundried tomatoes perfectly went to the 'max' line.
Roasted Tomato Soup
Ingredients:
6-10 Plum Tomatoes
1 Bulb of Garlic
1/2 Onion
3-5 Sundried Tomatoes
Olive Oil
Cream/Milk/Milk Alternative
Salt
Pepper
Basil (Optional)
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
Cut the tomatoes in half, and the top off of the garlic bulb so that you can just see the tops of the cloves. Discard the top of the garlic, or save it to use in stock at a later date. Put the tomatoes and onion on a sheet pan, salt, pepper, and oil them. Place the garlic in the center of a square sheet of aluminum foil. Wrap the edges of the foil upwards so that it 'cups' the garlic, but leaves the top open so that you can see the cloves. Put a tablespoon or so of oil on the cloves. Season it with salt and pepper, seal the foil, and put the garlic on the sheet pan. Roast for about 35 minutes.
Put the onion, tomatoes, and any liquid from cooking in a blender, food processor, or a bowl for an immersion blender. Unwrap the garlic and squeeze the roasted cloves out of their 'skins' and add them to the onion and tomato mixture along with the sundried tomatoes. Blend until smooth, adding cream or milk if needed. Add salt, pepper, and basil for taste. If needed, reheat on the stovetop in a pot.
Is best eaten with classic grilled cheese.
Enjoy!
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