Cooking Baking Eating

I got more tomatoes! This time they came from another coworker and he gave me quite the bag of them!

There seems to be such a difference in people’s gardening styles. The first tomatoes I got from my friend were soft, fully ripened and ready to eat. This second batch I got from another coworker is more on the unripened side, a little more orange inside and not quite there yet. But I can understand the reasoning for them to ripen on the counter and last a little longer.

Since they were a little on the unripened side I decided I needed to get the best possible flavor out of these guys. I remember seeing a Barefoot Contessa recipe in which she made a roasted tomato Caprese salad and I was enchanted. But I also wanted soup. So I used her method to roast the tomatoes and get the best flavor I could out of them.

If you’ve never had a roasted tomato then you are truly missing out. Its similar in flavor to a sun dried but not quite as intense and not quite as oily since I only drizzled them in olive oil and didn’t make them swim in it. I had to restrain myself from just picking them up from the pan and eating them.

I also loved how the soup came together in the food processor, very smooth but had a lot of body to it which I really think came from the roasted tomatoes. I think next time I’ll end up roasting the garlic and onions as well. Now I just need more tomatoes.

I also used a LOT of fresh black pepper. The pepper mill has become my absolute favorite thing in the kitchen. After the soup simmered with the pepper it had this wonderful deep roasted flavor but with this bite of heat near the end. Not really spicy but you could really taste the black pepper.

Good gods you have to make this soup.

Roasted Tomato Soup
Serves 6-8

• 12-15 Roma or Plum tomatoes
• 1/4 cup olive oil, divided
• Salt and pepper
• 1/2 white onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 1 (6oz) can tomato paste
• 1/2 teaspoon basil
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 bay leaf

1. Preheat the oven to 275F.
2. Quarter and seed all of the tomatoes and arrange on a foil lined baking sheet.
3. Drizzle with half of the olive oil and season liberally with salt and pepper and roast slowly in the oven for 2 hours. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.
4. While the tomatoes cool, cook the onions and garlic in a pan over medium heat until the onions are translucent and the garlic is fragrant.
5. In a food processor add the tomatoes, garlic and onions and puree until very smooth. If using a blender add a small amount of broth to help blend.
6. Add the tomato mixture to a large pot and and the remaining ingredients and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove the bay leaf.
7. Serve soup hot with grilled cheese or garlic toasts.