When Life Gives You Tomatoes, Make Tomato Soup

What would you do with a box of tomatoes?


I came home from the farmers market on Saturday with a box of tomato "seconds." That is, tomatoes that may be slightly imperfect, with a rotten spot or just a little too soft to sell to customers at the market. And when I say  box, I mean a big box of 80 tomatoes.


On Sunday, I used 40 tomatoes to make marinara sauce. I basically cut tomatoes until I could no longer cut anymore...I took a break from the red globes on Monday and woke up on Tuesday morning figuring I better do something with the remaining tomatoes.

I thought about making homemade tomato juice, but when I stumbled upon Jaden Hair of Steamy Kitchen's Roasted Tomato Soup, I remembered that there are no coincidences.


More than being just simple, this recipe was one where I could likely use all of the 40 remaining tomatoes. Plus, it calls for vegetable stock and requires no cream or milk, unless you want it.


I've got to tell you, though, I have never been a fan of tomato soup. My college roommate could open a can of Campbell's Tomato Soup, heat it up in the micro and be absolutely content. Me, not in a million years.


But David loves, loves, loves tomato soup. Out of a can. We never buy it, but he talks about "tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich" quite frequently and with such love and admiration. Because there's no good tomato soup around here, why not indulge him with something he longs for and never gets to enjoy?


Tomato soup, anyone?


P.S. He said this was the best tomato soup he's ever had.


Buen provecho!

Roasted Tomato Soup
The Cowgirl Gourmet stumbled across this recipe at Jaden Hair's Steamy Kitchen and mildly adapted it


Print recipe


This soup is for the gardener who has tomatoes coming out his or her ears, or the lucky person who has a friend or neighbor who is successfully growing too many tomatoes. Or, perhaps, someone like me, who is lucky enough to have farmers as friends...farmers who need to off-load a box of tomato "seconds" onto someone who will love their tomatoes as much as they do.

40 small to medium tomatoes, cut in half or quarters, depending on how soft they are (cut soft tomatoes in half and not-so-soft ones in quarters)
1 jalapeno, stemmed, cut in half lengthwise and then seeded
2 red bell peppers, seeded, cut into 4 pieces
olive oil
3/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
Freshly ground black pepper
2 cups vegetable broth 
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese (plus additional cheese for garnishing)
Optional, heavy cream or creme fraiche  (I add just a splash of cream to each individual bowl)


Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. 


Arrange all vegetables on baking sheet(s) and drizzle olive oil all over and toss to coat. Place in oven and roast for 30-40 minutes.

Pre-roasted

Roasted

When the vegetables have roasted, place them (and any juice that remains on the sheet pan) in a blender (Vita-Mix or standard blender) with the seasoning and broth and blend until smooth. In a Vita-Mix, you would set it for "soup." You could also put everything in a soup pot, like I did, and use an immersion blender to puree it all together.

This is just the roasted vegetables
and all the tomato juice!

Taste and adjust seasoning as necessary. If using a blender, pour into a pot and heat to serve. If using cream, rather than add it to the entire pot of soup, I prefer to add a splash to each bowl.


Garnish with additional parm and a few grinds of fresh black pepper and serve with crusty bread and a salad. Or a perfectly grilled cheese.