Remember how your mom used to make tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches for you when you were a kid? There are few meals that are quite so satisfying. This is merely a grown-up version of that same meal. You can most certainly add cheese to that crusty bread and grill it.

This version allows you to entirely control the contents of your soup. No more of that generic, canned soup with mysterious ingredients and added chemicals to keep it shelf-stable. You will appreciate the differences in taste and texture immediately. This simple soup may, once again, become your favorite.

INGREDIENTS

3 pounds ripe plum tomatoes

2 yellow onions

1 head garlic

6 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons good quality olive oil, separated

Salt and pepper

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 (28 ounces) can plum tomatoes, undrained

3½ cups fresh basil leaves, packed when measured

1-2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves

1 carton (32 ounces) high quality chicken stock

1 teaspoon dried oregano

¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes

Optional: crusty French bread, fresh parmesan cheese

 

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Cut plum tomatoes in half down their length. Place on a large baking sheet. Cut onions into eighths (or large chunks) and add to baking sheet. Pour 6 tablespoons olive oil over tomatoes and onions. Add salt and pepper, to taste, and toss to coat. Spread into one even layer on baking sheet. Set aside.

Peel the outer layer of skin from the entire garlic bulb, discarding skin. Leave the cloves intact, with their skins on. With a sharp knife, cut about ¼ inch from the top of the entire bulb, exposing the individual cloves of garlic. Set the entire bulb of garlic on a piece of foil large enough to wrap it up, entirely. Pour the remaining 2 teaspoons of olive oil over the top of the garlic bulb and wrap it up tightly. Place it on the baking sheet with the onions and tomatoes, and roast all of them for 40-45 minutes.

Meanwhile, melt the butter, over medium heat, in a large stock pot. Add the canned tomatoes, all the herbs and spices and the chicken stock. Next add the roasted tomatoes and onions to the stock pot, together with any liquid that has accumulated on the baking sheet. Remove the garlic bulb from the foil and coarsely chop as many of the garlic cloves as you would like, adding them to the stock pot. Taste and adjust salt and pepper to your liking.

Bring the mixture in the stock pot to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, for about 40 minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings, as needed. Allow the mixture to cool slightly, until it is safe to handle. Then carefully blend it, in batches, in a high-powered blender until it is the desired consistency. If it has cooled too much, you can return it to the stock pot, or microwave it, until it is heated through.

Serve immediately with crusty bread and fresh parmesan cheese, if desired.

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Quick Tip:  Want a chunkier version of this soup? Chop your onions coarsely after roasting, before adding them to the stock pot. Then use an immersion blender, after fully cooking all ingredients in the stock pot, to lightly break the contents into a chunky puree. Alternatively, you could run the fully-cooked ingredients through a food mill.

Recipe and image courtesy of Chelsea at Chelsea’s Messy Apron