Creamy Roasted Tomato Soup
Take all the things you love about tomato and concentrate it via roasting. Add a touch of salt, black pepper, red pepper flake, and cream, and you have bliss (at least in our opinion…). This recipe is so simple and so easy to have prepped in the freezer.
If you’re hosting any holiday parties this winter, try making a large batch and serving from a slow cooker as an appetizer in small bowls or mugs. A warm bit of soup is a lovely way to say “welcome” on a chilly evening.
This recipe is adapted the Cream of Roasted Tomato Soup in Food52’s A New Way to Dinner. We use this cookbook all the time. It’s really great if you’re interested in cooking big batches of food one day a week, and enjoying mix and match meals all week long.
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Yield: about 4 servings
Ingredients
4 lbs tomatoes, cored and halved*
6 cloves garlic, peeled and lightly smashed
Olive oil (for drizzling)
Kosher salt
Fresh ground black pepper
Red pepper flake
6 tablespoons heavy cream
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 375°F.
Arrange the cored, halved tomatoes cut side down on a baking sheet (or two sheets, if needed). Lightly drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt.
Halved and cored tomatoes on sheet tray before roasting. Drizzled with a bit of olive oil and kosher salt.
Tomatoes on sheet tray after roasting for 1 hour.
Roast the tomatoes for about 45-60 minutes. When the skins of the tomatoes look browned and a good amount of liquid has released from the tomatoes, they’re ready to come out. If the tomatoes look browned, but there isn’t a lot of liquid on the baking sheet, don’t fret. It just means that the tomatoes weren’t as juicy as you’d like, and you’ll need to add a splash or two of water to the pan.
When the tomatoes are ready, transfer the entire contents of the baking sheet(s) to a medium saucepan or small pot.
Tomatoes in saucepan after roasting. Level of liquid is a little low, so a few ounces of water will need to be added.
Use your immersion blender to puree all the tomato and garlic. Since I leave the skins on the tomatoes, I prefer to blend until the mixture is fairly smooth. If you think that it seems too thick, add in some water, about an ounce at a time. Keep in mind that you’ll also be adding some cream in as well.
In the photo above, you can see that there isn’t a ton of liquid present. I ended up adding about 3 ounces of water to that pan get the consistency that I wanted. In the middle of summer, with lovely, juicy tomatoes, it’s highly unlikely that any water will be needed.
Make ahead: If you’ve made a large batch of the soup and plan to stash some in your freezer, now is the time to do so. It’s much easier to thaw and heat up later without the cream being present in the soup. When you’re ready to eat the soup later, simply thaw, bring to a simmer in a saucepan, and proceed with the rest of the recipe below. I usually add a note to my container with the remaining instructions so that I don’t need to pull a recipe back out again (see photo below).
Add in the cream and pulse a few times with the immersion blender. You can also just stir in the cream, but I like to really blend it all together. Season to taste with kosher salt, black pepper, and red pepper flake. If you find that the tomatoes didn’t have all the sweetness you wanted, you can add in a teaspoon or two of white sugar (go easy on this though, taste before adding more).
Serve warm with a swirl of olive oil on top (if you’d like) and ideally, with a side of a grilled cheese sandwich.
Roasted tomato soup, ready to go into the freezer. Note included that the cream still needs to be added.
Notes
*I usually opt for Roma tomatoes or smaller tomatoes on the vine, but choose whatever tomatoes look the best. The juicier, the better.
