Our Mama's Roasted Tomato Soup

If you came to visit us this weekend, you would see sitting by the piano, green shopping bins full of tomatoes. Red tomatoes, green tomatoes, pink tomatoes, big ones, little ones, odd shaped..tomatoes are in the house!!!

In our garden we planted thirty tomato plants and this summer they did exceptionally well! We are very grateful, as they were a teensy bit neglected with all the wedding busyness and family life adventures.

Tomatoes from the garden taste OUT OF THIS WORLD in comparison to store bought and local tomatoes. There is something special in the taste of the juicy, just picked fruit, and we think perhaps it is the lack of pesticide, hormones or chemicals. We only wish our carrots would be as self sustainable as our tomatoes. Ah well maybe next year. 

What do we like to do with all our tomatoes?

Our mama makes The Best Creamy Roasted Tomato Soup, that tastes so thick and wonderful you just wonder if there is cream in it..but nope not even a drop ; ) 

Carole's Roasted Tomato Soup 

4-5 pounds of peeled tomatoes, sliced in half with stems removed * 

fresh sprigs of thyme, oregano and rosemary 

2 tbsp of sugar

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 garlic bulb or 4-5 cloves chopped 

2 sweet large onions

3 stalks of celery diced

5 medium carrots, diced.
1 large sweet potato, peeled and diced into cubes

4 cups of vegetable stock 

1/2 cup of fresh basil leaves chopped. 

2 tbsp of sugar

salt and pepper to add flavour.

Step 1. Preheat oven to 425 'F

Step 2 Place sliced tomatoes on baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil and chopped garlic. Place your sprigs of thyme,rosemary and fresh herbs on the tomatoes. If you don't have the fresh herbs, use dried. Sprinkle sugar and pop those tomatoes in the oven and roast for 30 minutes. 

Step 3. While your tomatoes are roasting, sauté celery, onions, sweet potato, carrots and cook until the veggies are soft (15 min or so) 

Step 4. When the tomatoes are done, add to the pot remove the sprigs of herbs, add the stock. 

Step 5. Simmer on low until the veggies are all tender, another 15-20 minutes. 

Step 6. Puree the soup with either with an immersion blender or a regular blender until smooth. Return the blended soup to the pot, heat slowly and add your chopped basil, salt and pepper. 

Enjoy! 

Do you have a favourite tomato recipe? 

*To peel tomatoes, place tomatoes in a pot of boiling water for 30 sec- to a minute. The skins will peel off