Roasted Garlic and Tomato Soup

Sharon123's Note:

This is a robust, full bodied soup that can stand on its own as a meal. From the cookbook Caprial Cafe Favorites. Caprial is a restaurant owner, television chef and a mother of two small children.

• Total Time: 1 hrs
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 45 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• 2 -3 lbs tomatoes (medium)
• 8 garlic cloves
• 2 shallots (or 1 small red onion)
• 2 sprigs rosemary (or 1/4 tsp. dried)
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme , chopped (or 1 tbls. dried)
• ½ cup olive oil
• 4 cups vegetable stock (or chicken stock)
• ¼ cup balsamic vinegar
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh basil (or 1 tsp. dried)
• ½ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
• salt
• parmesan cheese (to garnish, or goat cheese)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400*F.
2. Place the tomatoes, garlic, shallots, rosemary, and thyme in a 9x11" baking dish. Cover with the olive oil. Bake until the tomatoes begiin to brown, 15-20 minutes.
3. Using a slotted spoon, transfer this mixture to a heavy stockpot and add the liquid from the baking dish. Add the vegetable stock and simmer over medium heat until the tomatoes and the liquid are reduced by one third, about 15-20 minutes.
4. Add the balsamic viniegar, basil, black pepper, and salt and simmer for 5-10 minutes. Puree in a blender or in batches in a food processor.
5. Strain the soup through a sieve into a tureen or soup bowl.
6. Serve hot, topped with freshly grated Parmesan or goat cheese. Enjoy!

Reviews

[*Parsley*]

Fantastic tomato soup! Roasting the veggies and herbs makes all the difference. I also skipped straining the soup as a previous reviewer did. The balsamic vinegar was a nice touch. I added just a pinch of sugar just to balance the vinegar. I used the goat cheese as garnish because goat cheese and tomatoes are a winning pair! Thanx for sharing!

[weekend cooker]

Using 1 small red onion, dried rosemary, dried thyme, chicken stock,dried basil, and parmesan cheese, and 1 can chicken broth this made for a great soup tonight. I usually do not use a food processor, but this was a chance for me to use it. This was one flavorful soup that the kids and I enjoyed very much. Made for 1-2-3 hits.

[ellie_]

Very good tomato soup which we enjoyed with grilled cheese sandwiches. Made as directed but used dried herbs and 1 can of vegetable broth and 1 can of chicken broth to equal the 4 cups required. I also used an immersion blender to puree the soup and skipped the suggestion of straining the soup into a bowl. Very good soup! Thanks for sharing!