Creamy Roasted Tomato Soup

This delicious roasted tomato soup is one of my absolute favorites! It is pretty hands-off because the oven does most of the work for you, and by roasting you achieve a deeper, more complex flavor. This soup is wonderful on its own but when paired with a grilled cheese sandwich it makes for a comforting, cozy, and totally scrumptious meal that the whole family will love!

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 50 minutes

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

• 1 kg fresh tomatoes (I used plum)

• 4 shallots or 2 onions

• 1 red bell pepper*

• 1 head of garlic

• 1 cup veggie broth

• 1 cup half-and-half*

• 1 tsp dried oregano

• 1/2 tsp dried basil

• 1/2 tsp dried thyme

• 1/4 tsp dried rosemary

• Kosher salt to taste

• Black pepper to taste

• Fresh parsley or fresh basil

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F or 205°C.

2. Cut the tomatoes, shallots, and red pepper in half.

3. Peel the cloves of garlic.

4. Arrange the tomatoes, shallots, red pepper, and garlic in a single layer on a baking sheet.

5. Drizzle olive oil over the veggies.

6. Season with dried herbs, salt, and pepper.

7. Roast the veggies in the preheated oven for 45-50 minutes, until the veggies are starting to brown in spots.

8. Remove from oven, and pour all the veggies except the red peppers into a stock pot.

9. Peel the skin off of the red pepper halves and then add them to the stock pot as well.

10. Pour the cup of veggie broth into the pot and blend with an immersion blender until smooth.*

11. Turn the stove to low heat and let the broth heat up.

12. once the soup is steaming, turn off the heat and pour in the half-and-half and mix it in.

13. Taste the soup for seasoning and adjust if necessary.

14. Garnish with fresh parsley or fresh basil.

15. Serve with a grilled cheese sandwich to make it a meal. This is a raclette grilled cheese made on my sourdough discard bread and it is delectable!

16. Enjoy!

Additional Notes:

*You can omit the red peppers if you prefer, I like to add one in because it gives the soup an additional depth without making it taste overtly like red pepper. Basically, if I have a red pepper in the fridge I use it and if I don’t I leave it out.

*You can make your own half-and-half by mixing together 1/2 a cup of cream with 1/2 a cup of milk. You can also use all cream if you want the soup to be richer.

*Substitute coconut milk or cashew cream for the half-and-half to make it vegan!

*You can also use a regular blender to blend the soup instead of an immersion blender.