Yeah, I’ve got a small obsession with roasting things lately.
Fire-Roasted Corn Salsa has made an appearance at dinner only 97,000 times in the past month. Roasted Cherry Barbecue Sauce is just a darn good idea. Then there was a Roasted Strawberry Sourdough Muffin incident earlier this summer. Oh, and Roasted Potato Salad.
Basically, I just want to roast ALL the things!
We’ve had this discussion before. Roasting fruits and vegetables brings out their natural sweetness, gives them a bit of a caramelized flavor, and makes your house smell outstanding. If there was an air freshener that smelled like roasted tomatoes, I would be on that like a fly on…nevermind.
Recently my momma went on a tomato-buying binge. She hit up our local produce stand (literally, a table set out in my former pre-calculus teacher’s front yard – I love small towns) and bought 12 pounds of Roma tomatoes for $8. And then she did it again. And, if I am correct, a third time. What the heck did she do with all of those tomatoes? Well, she roasted them up and stocked the extra freezer with about a million jars tomato sauce (adapted from Girl Versus Dough’s Heirloom Tomato Spaghetti Sauce) and this tomato soup. She also kindly gave me several pounds of the ruby-red jewels so that I could do the same.
Problem: In our excitement, we forgot that my freezer is a fraction of the size of my mother’s. After making one batch of each recipe (yielding two jars of spaghetti sauce and three of soup), Boyfriend informed me that I am not allowed to buy anything else that needs to be frozen because there literally is no extra room in our freezer. Well, crap.
At least we will have Roasted Tomato Soup to enjoy with our Grilled Pimento Cheese this winter.
Recipe adapted from Joy the Baker.
Roasted Tomato Soup
Ingredients
- 2 pounds Roma tomatoes
- 4 tablespoons olive oil plus extra for roasting tomatoes
- I medium red onion diced
- 1 medium carrot diced
- 1/2 large red pepper diced
- Splash of red wine vinegar
- 1/4 cup flour
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 quart chicken broth
- 1/2 cup milk
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
Roast the tomatoes:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a sheet pan with aluminum foil.
- Quarter tomatoes. Toss with a few drizzles of olive oil and spread in a single layer on the prepared sheet pan. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast for about 45 minutes or until caramelized and luscious.
Make the soup:
- Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion, carrot, and red pepper. Cook until onion is translucent and carrots are getting soft, about 7-8 minutes. Add vinegar and cook for another minute, while stirring.
- Turn flame to low and add flour, stirring into the vegetables. Add tomato paste and cook for an additional minute. Slowly pour in the chicken broth, stirring constantly to avoid lumps. Add bay leaf and tomatoes. Boost the heat to medium-high and bring to a boil, stirring constantly, then reduce heat and allow to simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Remove from heat and remove bay leaf. Puree using an immersion blender (if using a standard blender, allow to cool slightly before blending, and only do about 1/3 of the soup at a time so as to avoid burns!) until the soup is your desired consistency. Return soup to the pot (if using a standard blender) and add the milk. Season with salt and pepper to taste. If not serving immediately, cool to room temperature before storing in airtight containers and freezing.
As soon as Daddy gets home and can eat, I’m opening up one of these jars and baking those frozen biscuits to go along with them. We won’t tell him about that just yet. Also, I’ll just say that it’s a good thing I don’t have a bowl of the corn salsa in my refrigerator, because I would just be sitting there watching The Voice and spooning it into my mouth for dinner tonight. Maybe not having any is a sad thing, now that I’m thinking about it.
Corn Salsa + Spoon + The Voice = my dream come true 😉
Gasp! No ice cream until you get through all the tomato? Sounds like an excellent soup and spaghetti-fest to me! 😉 When I spied your first photo, I seriously sucked in air and said, “oh no she didn’t” in reference to your delicious soup and pimento grilled cheese in the background. I want to spend every meal inside that photo 😉 Sending you my love, my dear!
It’s comfort spooned into a bowl with a gooey cheese filling and crispy, buttery crust.
I have a big obsession with roasting tomatoes too! I had so many tomatoes from my garden–love this soup! Yum.
Tomato soup is my favorite! This looks perfect. I’m such a sucker for the Nordstrom’s cafe soup I ask my mom to send me a jar 😉 Guess it’s time to put on my big girl panties and make my own!!
The Voice obsessed over here! I thought I’d miss Ursher….but Xtina didn’t disappoint!
But really…WHYYY did we have to lose my lovely Ursher and get weird Ceelo back in return? NOT a fair trade, people.
Whoa, wait a second. Doesn’t your mom hate tomatoes? Why is she buying so many? Or is she one of those “I only eat cooked tomatoes” people? You can always send some jars to my freezer if you need extra space. I am stocking up on soups and sauces of all kinds in preparation for the winter and the fact that I will probably not be able to cook as often when the little guy gets here.
Yep, that’s me. Like them cooked, just don’t like them raw. Add it to my list of oddities. The list is so long that no one could ever get through it before the end of time. I love tomato soup!
Ding ding ding! That would be correct. Cooked tomatoes only. Bless her weird little heart.
Sounds like we both need bigger freezers this winter!
One, I LOVE that your mom made my spaghetti sauce! That just warms the cockles of my heart.
And two, I think if I came within a foot of this soup, I’d be tempted to faceplant into it. For maximum tomato soup consumption, of course.
Roasting things is goooooood. I’m not usually in love with tomato soup but this def. looks like the exception!
So I can freeze this in mason jars?
Yep! Just make sure to not fill the jars too full, or else they may crack or burst when they freeze. Also, I like to let the soup come to room temperature before putting the jars in the freezer.