Roasted Tomato Soup with Garlic Toast Croutons

Cold weather calls for comfort food and there is nothing more basic and comforting than warm bowl of tomato soup.  I have made homemade tomato soup before by cooking down the tomatoes and adding a lot of spices and herbs, but this time I wanted the tomatoes to really be the star of the soup so I roasted them first.  I think this is my favorite tomato soup EVER.   It was so clean, simple and flavorful.  Roasting the ingredients really made the tomatoes, onions and garlic taste beautifully rich.  The soup was so creamy and full of body with no cream added so it's a great Vegan option.  The garlic croutons were a perfect topping to give some added texture to the soup.  My kids came home from school and I offered them soup (expecting them to decline it), but they each had a big bowl and really loved the croutons.  I may still experiment with more tomato soups because I love to experiment with recipes, but this is always going to be a personal favorite.

 Ingredients:

To Roast Tomatoes:
4-5 cups of fresh tomatoes chopped into large pieces
6-8 cloves of garlic
2 medium onions cut into large chunks
salt and black pepper to taste
2-3 Tbs olive or canola oil

Soup:
All roasted tomatoes, onions and garlic (with all pan drippings)
1 quart chicken stock (for vegan version use vegetable stock)
1/2 tsp cumin powder
red chili powder or cayenne powder to taste
pinch of sugar to taste (if needed)


 Garlic Toast Croutons:
Thick sliced white or sourdough bread
butter/margarine as needed (for vegan version use a vegan substitute)
granulated garlic as needed
dried parsley as needed

***Roasting tomato recipe for soup adapted from Tyler Florence.

 Directions:
Season tomatoes, garlic cloves, and onion with salt, pepper and oil.  Roast in a 450 degree oven for 30 minutes.  Place all roasted ingredients into a soup pan with roast pan drippings.  Add 1 quart stock, cumin powder, chili powder, sugar, salt, and pepper to taste.  Bring to a simmer then use a immersion blender to blend until smooth.

Once soup is blended, strain through a sieve for a very creamy smooth soup.   To make croutons, butter bread on both sides then sprinkle with some granulated garlic and dried parsley.  Grill on a skillet until browned on both sides. Allow bread to cool then cut into squares and place onto top of soup before serving.  Enjoy.

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