Rustic Roasted Tomato Soup

I love a good tomato soup.  I’ve been tweaking and perfecting my roasted tomato soup recipe and have finally come up with the version that I absolutely love and wanted to share.  I have a couple of secret ingredients that put this simple soup over the top.  Its lovely roasted tomato taste is enhanced with the addition of roasted garlic and to really amp up the flavor I add a jar of blitzed up sun dried tomatoes packed in olive oil.  Roasting the tomatoes and adding in the sun dried gems gives this soup a subtle sweetness that has been drawn out of these ruby jewels.


You can make the soup in 2 steps if you’re pressed for time.  Roast the tomatoes and garlic one day, store them in the fridge, and make the soup within the week.    I typically go that route, roasting my tomatoes on the weekend when I have a bit more time and preparing the soup during the weeknights when I’m trying to put dinner on the table in 20 minutes.


Either way, this tomato soup is a win, win!  Serve with your favorite tomato soup accompaniments.  I like a good old fashioned grilled cheese with mine to dunk away or perhaps a parmesan crisp if you want to do without the bread.  A drizzle of sour cream or croutons are always an option as well.

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Rustic Tomato Soup

Approx 14 Romatoes, cut in half lengthwise
1 7 to 8 oz jar oil packed sun dried tomatoes
5-6 garlic cloves, unpeeled
2T olive oil
salt & pepper
1/4 c cream or non-dairy unsweetened and unflavored creamer (like almond milk or coconut creamer)
*Up to 1 c chicken or vegetable stock (optional)


Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Scoop out the seeds of the tomatoes if you don’t care for that texture in your soup.  I don’t mind at all so I leave them in.  Place tomatoes cut side down on a baking sheet.  Drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper.
Place garlic cloves in a bit of parchment paper and wrap up (see photo on website).  Place with tomatoes on the baking sheet.
Bake about 45 minutes until tomatoes are nicely roasted and soft.  You can decide if
you want to leave the skins on or remove them.   I’ve left them on if I’m trying to hurry, but removing them takes little effort at this point.  They should pull off easily and using tongs may help.  It’s ok if a bit of the skin is left on.  This is rustic after all.  Open up the parchment you’ve housed the garlic in and gently squeeze the softened cloves out of their skins directly onto the tomatoes. Toss the skins.


At this point you can proceed with the soup or place the tomatoes and garlic along with all the juices from the baking sheet into a container to reserve for making soup within the week.


To make the soup, place tomatoes and garlic and all their juices into a medium soup pot and begin to warm over gentle heat.


Place the entire contents of the jar of oil packed sun dried tomatoes into a small blender or food processor and blitz until it’s a pesto consistency.  Pour into the tomatoes and stir all together.   Make sure everything is warmed through and just begins to bubble.  Salt and pepper to taste, knowing that tomatoes can use a decent amount of salt.


*I’ve indicated the optional use of stock.  I prefer not to use it as it seems to dilute the beautiful roasted tomato flavor, but if your mixture seems too thick or you need to stretch this, by all means add a bit of stock.


Blend well using an immersion blender or regular blender.  Use caution with the regular blender as your soup is hot.
Pour in the cream or non-dairy creamer and stir in to enrich the soup and enhance the velvety texture.  Serve with your accompaniments of choice.