Creamy roasted tomato soup with basil

This creamy roasted tomato soup is so easy to whip up with only a few minutes of actual hands-on cooking time. It’s the first thing I make in winter when I have a bag of very ripe baby tomatoes that need to be used up quickly. I have made so many variations of this soup; it almost doesn’t need a specific recipe. I love to add basil if I have this or stir through a couple of teaspoons of basil pesto to give it a herbaceous hit. A chopped-up red onion and a sprinkle of smoked chilli flakes would not go amiss in the roasting pan either. Play around with what flavours you like. 

Amazing alchemy happens when you roast tomatoes and the flavour intensifies to umami perfection. I love that all I need to do is toss the tomatoes into a tray, drizzle over the olive oil and roast for about 40 minutes while I get on with other things. Depending on how thick I want it and how many tomatoes I have around, I either use stock or not. I generally like to have a proper soup consistency so I recommend adding about a cup of vegetable stock and one cup of cream to a tray of roasted tomatoes (from 700gm – 1kg). I like to use baby tomatoes and roast this whole. The blender takes care of grinding up the skins at the end.

I add 3 cloves of garlic to the roasting tray and this softens their pungency, which I prefer. I normally scatter over a few thyme stalks and season the tomatoes well with sea salt and black pepper. About 10 minutes before the tomatoes are finished roasting I add a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar to the tray, which adds sweetness and acidity.

To make this vegan, use coconut milk or cream and reduce the quantity to ½ a cup.

Accompaniments.

The very best part about soup for me is all the delicious things that go on the side. A good crusty loaf is always a winner as is toast slathered with butter. Croutons are fantastic and you can see how I make oven-roasted ones here. A good toasted cheese sandwich with tomato soup is classic and if I wasn’t worried so much about my calorie intake right now it’s the first one I would go for.

My easy cheese and sweetcorn bread or my easy whole wheat bread recipes are great to dip into this soup.

Recipe – serves 4

Creamy roasted tomato soup

Print Recipe

Ingredients

• 700 gms – 1kg baby tomatoes or a mix of larger tomatoes and baby
• 3 – 4 cloves of garlic peeled
• Olive oil for roasting
• 3 – 4 thyme stalks
• 1 cup good quality vegetable stock reduce this quantity if yiou like it really thick
• 1 cup cream
• I Tbsp balsamic or red wine vinegar
• Basil leaves or basil pesto
• Salt & pepper

Instructions

• Pre-heat your oven to 190C. Spread the tomatoes & garlic onto a tray in a single layer and drizzle over a good splash of olive oil, and season with salt & pepper and scatter over the thyme stalks. Roast for 40 – 45 minutes.
• Shake the pan halfway through the roasting time.
• About 10 minutes before the end, take the tomatoes out and add the vinegar. Give the pan a shake and return this to the oven to finish roasting.
• Remove from the oven and toss the roasted tomatoes and garlic directly into a blender (remove the thyme stalks). Add the boiling hot vegetable stock and cream and blend for a few minutes until smooth. Serve immediately or, make this in advance and reheat to serve later.

Author: Sam Linsell

A few of my favourite soup recipes:

7 delicious winter soups

Split pea & ham hock soup with crunchy croutons

Carrot & coriander soup with cumin and orange

Roasted cauliflower soup with garlic & Parmesan toast

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