Among all the comfort foods one can imagine, tomato soup is definitely in the top 10.  It’s a delicious soup for a chilly winter afternoon. It’s spicy good. If you can’t take the heat, you don’t have to have it spicy, you can eliminate the cayenne and red pepper flakes. I like mine a little chunky, so I don’t puree it that much but, again it’s all about choices. Either way, this tomato soup is delicious and full of flavor.

Ingredients:

4-5 lbs of roma tomatoes, halved

½ Cup Olive oil

2 Medium  onions, rough chopped

1 Large carrot, chopped

1 Large rib of celery, chopped

1/2 Cup finely chopped fresh basil

1 Large red bell pepper, seeded and rough chopped

2 Bulbs of garlic

6 Cups Vegetable or chicken stock

4 oz. Tomato paste

1 tsp Sweet paprika

Thyme, fresh, about 6-8 sprigs or 1 tsp dried

1 tsp Oregano, dried

1/2 tsp Red pepper flakes

½  tsp Cayenne pepper

1 TBSP fresh lime juice

Grated Reggiano or parmesan cheese

Basil leaves for garnish

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Cut off the tops of the garlic bulbs. In a large bowl, toss tomato halves, chopped red bell pepper, and garlic in about ¼ cup of olive oil. Place tomatoes, peppers and garlic onto an oiled baking sheet with tomatoes cut side up and garlic bulbs cut side down and sprinkle with sea salt and pepper . Roast in hot oven for about 35-40 minutes.

While tomatoes are roasting, saute onions, celery and carrots (mirepoix) in a pan with 2 TBSP of olive oil on medium heat for about 8-10 minutes. Add finely chopped basil, red pepper flakes, sweet paprika, and thyme.  

Once tomatoes are soft and browned/charred around the edges and garlic bulbs are soft, remove from oven and let cool.Once garlic is cool to the touch, hold bulbs by the root ends and squeeze the roasted garlic cloves out of the skins and smash to a paste with a fork. Add roasted tomatoes and red bell  pepper to mirepoix along with tomato paste.

Stir in vegetable or chicken stock to pot and bring to a boil. Let cook for about 10 minutes.

 Add lime juice.

Transfer tomato mixture to a food processor and pulse until it is of desired texture. A stick or immersion blender can also be used to puree the tomato mix right in the pot. Ladle into serving bowls and garnish with cheese and basil leaves.