A hearty tomato soup with just the right amount of heat.
Rainy days and tomato soup, name a more iconic duo. Well maybe grilled cheese and tomato soup. But whatever. Tomato soup is in the upper echelon of ultimate comfort foods. And there’s nothing better than a hearty bowl made from fresh tomatoes.
Instead of cream, this recipe uses a sharp aged cheddar to mimic that grilled cheeseiness, along with some cayenne, chili powder, and red pepper flakes to give it a subtle kick that’s perfect for warming you up on a wintery spring day.
Besides the abundance of onions and garlic, I opted to leave the soup unstrained to make it a bit heartier. But if you prefer a thinner tomato soup, you can sift it through a medium size sieve to remove the excess tomato skin and seeds. Also, I don’t own a sieve, so that was also a determining factor for why I left it unstrained.
Either way, you’ll end up with the perfect rainy day soup to warm you all the way down to your soul.
Time You Need
- ~20 minutes prep
- ~45 minutes cooking
- Serves: 8-10 servings hearty cups of soup
What You Need
- 4-5 lbs fresh ripe
roma or plum tomatoes - 20 cloves garlic
- 1 large white onion, diced
- 1 red pepper, seeded and finely chopped
- ~3 tbsp olive oil
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 2 tsp dried basil
- ½ tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
- 1/2 tsp cayenne
- ~4 cups of chicken broth
- ~1 cup water
- ~3 tbsp finely chopped basil (or more for serving)
- ~2 tbsp finely chopped parsley (or more for serving)
- ~1 cup sharp aged cheddar, shredded (more for serving)
What You Do
- Preheat the oven to 450.
- Wash all the tomatoes, the begin cutting them into quarter or eighth sized pieces and set to the side.
- Line two baking sheets with foil. Add tomatoes, garlic cloves, minced onion and pepper, and fresh chopped basil and parsley. Coat in olive oil then season with salt and pepper.
- Place both baking sheets in the oven and roast for ~30 minutes, flipping halfway through. Once 30 minutes are up, broil the tomatoes and veggies for about ~7 minutes on high, until they begin to lightly char.
- While cooking, fill a large pot with chicken broth, water, dried basil, oregano, cayenne, red pepper flakes, and chili powder. Let simmer for a few minutes until tomatoes are almost done, then bring to a boil.
- Add tomatoes and veggies to the broth. Let it sit over medium high heat for a bout 5-10 minutes. Then remove from heat.
- Add the cup of shredded cheese and mix in.
- Then using a using a hand blender, blend mixture until smooth and creamy. Use a medium sized sieve if desired to remove exvess skins and seeds.
- Otherwise, serve with more cheese and basil leaves and enjoy!