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Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Roasted Tomato and Garlic Soup


When I was a little girl, there was nothing quite like my grandmother's cheese toasty sandwiches and Campbells Cream of Tomato soup, reconstituted with milk. She would spread CheezWhiz on white bread and pop it into the toaster oven until the cheese bubbled. I know. Awful, right? But that's what love tasted like to a five year old.

There are many winter days when what I want for lunch is a ramped up version of my childhood comfort. The time to plan for those winter days is now - as the tomatoes fade from the markets.


I take thick pieces of challah or Italian loaf, a slab of Fontina or Cheddar, a swath of apple chutney or fig jam or peach salsa. Sometimes, it's pieces of pear with Brie, or nectarines and mozzerella. Sometimes it's Comte and bacon.

Grill the sandwich in plenty of butter. Weigh it down with a pan and a tea kettle. Let the cheese warm slowly until it's all melty.Let the sandwich rest for a moment or two after it comes out of the pan, then cut in half to serve.


And the soup? Rich and tomato-y, whispers of roasted sweet garlic, hearty chicken broth as a base, and basil brightness. Top with a dollop of creme fraiche or sour cream. Or just stir some heavy cream into the soup as it heats.

Roasted Tomato and Garlic Soup
This recipe can be pressure canned or frozen. Cream is added when the soup is reheated.
Makes about 6 pints

15-20 tomatoes
2 carrots, chop roughly
1 large onion, quartered
2 whole heads garlic, peeled, not crushed
olive oil
3 cups fresh, homemade, chicken broth, skimmed of fat
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil -- (or 1 Tbsp. dried)

Preheat oven to 425°
Core tomatoes and cut in half. Place, cut side up, on parchment covered cookie sheet. Add carrots, onion and garlic. Brush with olive oil.
Bake at 400F for about an hour, or until veggies are roasted and a little blackened.
Blend with a stick blender (or in small batches in a blender) until smooth. Throw the basil in and blend some more.
Place in a large saucepan with the chicken broth and simmer for 10 minutes.

To can: Process in a pressure canner, pints for 60 min. and quarts for 70 min.

To serve: Warm soup in a saucepan. Add cream to taste. Serve garnished with chives or frizzled shallots.

9 comments:

Liz the Chef said...

Good heavens but this looks good...Weather is cool enough to wedge this into my meal-planning, maybe bump ahead to first place!

Brigette said...

I trying this tonight. The grilled cheese will be mozzarella with pesto.

Sylvie said...

I literally was thinking about tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich yesterday on my way home from work and thought that I needed to find a good tomato soup recipe. THANK YOU! I will try to make this during the weekend. Will get my supplies from the White House Farmers Market today!

Cornelius the Pig said...

this looks great! i've never made homemade tomato soup before, but this looks sooooo much better than that stuff in a can!

Trevor Sis Boom said...

Lovely! I made the lemon thyme configure you featured on NPR and now can't wait to make this soup. Somehow they seem to want to be consumed at the same time -- a grilled cheese to be their common friend. Thanks! Love your blog Mrs. W!

Amy said...

that sounds awesome. I love grilled cheese & tomato soup - and since we're having a fall drizzly day today, I might have to find some for lunch.

Yum!

Lisa said...

Hi! I made your recipe for fig confitures and they look lovely but I have a processing question. I ended up with more jam than I could put in jars and process at one time and I put the remainder in the fridge. I have enough to fill several more jars. Can I reheat it and fill additional jars and process them safely? This would be a day after I made the recipe.
Thanks so much,
Lisa

MrsWheelbarrow said...

Hi Lisa, so glad you made the jam! Yes, just bring the figs back up to a hard boil, then process.

Judimae said...

This soup looks fabulous. I don't know why I buy the canned stuff when it can be prepared fresh. I really can't wait to try it and by looking at the ingredients, know it will be a fantastic addition to my monthly menu. Thanks for sharing.