Description
Roasted tomato and red pepper soup is sweet, creamy, and perfect for dunking grilled cheese sandwiches into. It’s the ultimate fall soup.
Ingredients
Roasted tomato and red pepper soup
- 6 to 7 cups tomatoes (3 to 4 pounds) – (I used a combo of larger tomatoes. Use any kind you like)
- 1 medium white, or yellow onion, cut into wedges
- 5 to 7 cloves garlic, peeled, left whole
- 1 1/2 tablespoons avocado oil
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 large red bell peppers
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- optional: 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- optional: 2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
- optional: 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
- optional: 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- optional: 1/4 to 1/3 cup heavy cream (see notes)
Options for garnishes
- fresh basil leaves
- croutons – click here for a homemade crouton recipe
Optional grilled cheese sandwich (for 1 sandwich)
- 1 1/2 tablespoons salted butter
- 2 slices of bread (I use a whole wheat bread – any kind you like works)
- 2 to 3 slices cheddar cheese (or any cheese you prefer)
Instructions
- Prepare: Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Line an extra large rimmed baking sheet (or, two large baking sheets) with foil – if worried about sticking. Remove any stems from larger tomatoes, and cut the larger tomatoes into wedges. Leave any small grape or cherry tomatoes whole. You can use all of the same tomatoes, if you prefer. Add the tomatoes to the baking sheet. Along with the cut up onion. Use most of the 1 1/2 tablespoons of avocado oil, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt to toss the tomatoes, and the onion together until they’re well coated in the oil and salt. Spread them out in an even layer.
- Make a foil packet for the garlic: This method allows the garlic to get roasted within 20 minutes, verses roasting an entire bulb of garlic for 40 minutes, to an hour. Place the peeled, and whole garlic cloves on a small piece of foil. Add about 1/4 teaspoon of the avocado oil, and a healthy pinch of kosher salt. Toss to combine. Seal the foil packet up by folding the edges in on each other, the packet should be tightly sealed, and the garlic cloves should be in a single layer. Make room for the foil packet on the baking sheet by moving a few tomatoes over.
- Roast: Roast the tomatoes, garlic, and onion for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the tomatoes, have shriveled up a little, released their juices, and the onion is tender. The garlic cloves should be slightly browned, and fork tender.
- Roast the peppers: I have included 2 methods of roasting your peppers. Gas flame method – While the tomatoes are roasting in the oven, roast your bell peppers over the flame of a gas burner I place the pepper directly on grate of the gas burner, the open flame is touching much of the pepper. Use tongs to rotate the pepper until all sides are mostly charred. This will take about 8 to 10 minutes – don’t leave them unattended. I like to use one burner per pepper. Broiler method – Alternately, once the tomatoes are done cooking, you can preheat your broiler and place the peppers on a baking sheet, and place them directly under the broiler for about 10 minutes, rotating the peppers every 2 to 3 minutes to ensure even charring.
- Allow the red peppers to steam: Once the peppers are nice and charred place them in a medium sized mixing bowl. Cover tightly with a lid, or plastic wrap, and set aside for 10 to 15 minutes. This allows the heat from the peppers to create steam, and allows the skin to lift off of the peppers easier.
- Peel the red peppers: Once the red peppers have cooled enough to handle use a paper towel to help you peel most of the charred skin off the peppers, leaving some behind, because it adds flavor. Roughly cut up the flesh of the peppers, discarding the seeds and stems.
- Blend: To a high speed blender add the tomatoes, onion, roasted garlic, and any tomato juices. Also add the roasted red peppers – you may need to blend a little, then add more tomatoes once there is room. Carefully blend the tomatoes and red peppers until smooth. Taste and add the optional red wine vinegar if you need a little more acidity, the olive oil, red pepper flakes – for heat, smoked paprika for a little smokiness, and 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt – blend until smooth. Taste and adjust the flavors as needed. NOTE: if you’re using a blender that isn’t safe with blending hot liquids, then be sure to blend carefully. You might want to allow the ingredients to cool for 10 minutes before blending.
- Finish: Transfer the soup to a medium sauce pot to slowly heat the soup up. At this time add in the heavy cream, if using, or chicken broth/veggie broth if you wish to thin out the soup a little more. Taste and adjust any flavors as needed.
- Serve the soup: Once the soup is heated through you can serve the soup immediately, as is. Or, you can top it with croutons, or fresh basil, if desired. Or, make a grilled cheese sandwich to go with it (see directions below).
- To make the optional grilled cheese: Heat a small skillet over medium heat (I love using a cast iron skillet for this). While the pan is heating, butter both slices of bread, on one side. Once the pan is hot, add one slice of the buttered bread to the pan – carefully place the slices of cheese on the bread – then place the other piece of bread, buttered side up on top of the cheese. Cover with a lid and cook on one side for 3 to 4 minutes, or until the bottom of the sandwich looks toasted, and the cheese starts to melt. Flip the sandwich, reduce the heat to low (if needed), cover and cook another 2 to 3 minutes, or until the bottom of the sandwich is toasted and the cheese if fully melted. Repeat, if making more than one sandwich. I often like to use two separate pans to cook 2 sandwiches at the same time for a faster process, and to ensure that both sandwiches remain hot. Slice the sandwich in half.
- Serve immediately: Serve the grilled cheese sandwich immediately along with the hot tomato soup. The sandwich is great for dipping – yum.
- Storing leftover soup: Allow the soup to cool completely and transfer the soup to an air tight container. Store the soup in the fridge for up to 1 week. Re-heat gently on the stove top, or in the microwave.
Notes
Chicken broth: Many readers have commented that they thinned out the soup with a little chicken broth. Feel free to do that if you would like. We personally love the thicker soup as written, but this soup is easy to adjust as you like it.
Heavy cream: The heavy cream is optional, we really like the slight silky creaminess it adds. Feel free to add more if you prefer.
Gluten free option: Be sure to use gluten free bread if making crotons. And gluten free bread if making a grilled cheese sandwich. The remainder of the recipe is okay as is.
Vegan/dairy free option: If you need to keep the recipe dairy free/vegan be sure to omit the heavy cream. If you want to thin the soup out with a little broth, then make sure to use veggie broth instead of chicken broth (if vegan). Be sure to either omit the grilled cheese sandwich, or use dairy free cheese, and vegan butter to make a vegan grilled cheese sandwich.
Grilled cheese sandwich: I did not include this in the original recipe. But, as I have made this recipe in my every day life, I always end up making a grilled cheese sandwich to go along with the tomato soup. Not only does it pair well with the soup, it is an easy way to turn the soup into a complete meal.
Notes about the original recipe: This recipe has been very popular on my blog, so I was hesitant to change it too much. I did keep it true to the original recipe for the most part. Except, I did add the smoked paprika, and the heavy cream. Both of which ingredients are listed as optional – it depends on your personal taste. The optional olive oil and red wine vinegar were original to the recipe, however, I do make them optional ingredients this time, because I didn’t always find them necessary. The oil adds a hint of richness that you may find you want to omit if you are adding the heavy cream. The red wine vinegar is optional, because I didn’t always feel that it was necessary. If the tomatoes ended up being a little more “watery” I found the vinegar was helpful to add back in a bit of acidity, however, I didn’t use it if the tomatoes weren’t as “watery”. Again, it’s up to your taste preferences, taste the recipe as you go, and then decide. I hope you enjoy my honed and elevated version of this favorite Robust Recipes recipe!
Cook time: The cooking time does not include the time it takes to make the optional grilled cheese sandwich. If making the grilled cheese, I would add about 10 minutes of cooking time.
