Smoky Roasted Tomato Soup

This is a Roasted Tomato Soup that tastes terrific even if your tomatoes aren’t at the height of ripe, seasonal perfection. So imagine how spectacular it is when they are! It’s incredibly simple to make: roast > blitz > warm > eat. I love the hint of smoky flavour in this from smoked paprika.

Bonus: Super healthy, at just 240 calories a serving.

Roasted tomato soup

Tomato soups made with fresh tomatoes always confused me because recipes encourage you to make it with ripe, sweet, summer tomatoes. But in the height of summer, hot soup is the last thing I want!

So, I don’t make tomato soup when tomatoes are in their summer prime. Instead, I make it in the shoulder season when it’s cooler, which means tomatoes are not at their utmost peak. But this is easily dealt with simply by roasting the tomatoes which coaxes out the natural sweetness and enhances the flavour.

For this soup, I also like to add a hint of smoky flavour by tossing them in smoked paprika and roasting them long enough to get a little char on them. Just makes it even more interesting – again, in case the tomatoes themselves are a little lacking!

Ingredients

Here’s what you need:

Tomatoes – 1.5 kg / 3 lb of regular or roma tomatoes (those egg shaped ones). The more ripe, juicier and sweeter they are, the more delicious to soup will be. But as mentioned above, this soup is still great made with not-so-spectacular tomatoes (which, to be honest, is the typical tomatoes at Australian grocery stores).
Smoked paprika – Adds lovely earthy, smoky flavour to give this soup a little je ne sais quoi even if your tomatoes are not summer-prime, and even if you don’t have basil (see below). 🙂 It’s widely available at regular grocery stores, sold alongside regular paprika. Substitute with extra fresh basil instead!
Garlic cloves (lots!) – Five roasted whole in their skins so we can squeeze the flesh out later and blitz it into the soup. Plus another 2 garlic cloves sautéed with the onion.
Onion – Just your regular brown onion. Sautéing that with minced garlic goes a long way to add great flavour base into tomato soup.
Vegetable stock/broth – The liquid for the soup. Tastier than water! Use low sodium, though if you’ve only got regular salted stock, just reduce the salt listed in the ingredients 1/2 teaspoon.
Cream (just a bit) – I only use 1/2 cup (125 ml) of cream for a touch of creamy mouthfeel. It’s not intended to make the soup creamy as such, it’s just for finishing. So, feel free to leave it out – or substitute with butter if you don’t have cream. (Note: Even with the cream, it’s still a low 240 calories per serving!)
Basil – OPTIONAL. Don’t go and buy a whole bunch of expensive basil just for this recipe, unless you’re cooking for company! The smoked paprika plus char on the tomatoes is designed to give this soup a touch of extra flavour so it’s still great even if you don’t have basil, and is the reason I only use a bit. Though – if you’ve got basil, feel free to add a lot more!

How to make roasted tomato soup

Don’t be afraid to take the tomatoes a little further than your ordinarily would, to get a little charring on them for free smoky flavour.

Place halved tomatoes and unpeeled garlic cloves on a baking tray. Toss with olive oil, smoked paprika, salt and pepper. Arrange them cut face up.
Roast for 40 to 45 minutes in a hot oven until the surface has little charred bits and the tomatoes are completely soft.

Sauté the onion and garlic in a little oil until the onion is soft and translucent.
Add the tomatoes and vegetable stock.

Squeeze the roasted garlic flesh from the skins. The garlic flavour will be very mellowed and sweet. (It’s tempting to smear it on toast – in fact, it’s a brilliant way to use it!).
Blitz until smooth using a stick blender. Or do this step in a food processor or blender (you need a high powered blender like a Vitamin or Blendtec to make the soup perfectly smooth).

Simmer for 10 minutes to bring the flavours together, then stir in the cream.
Ladle into bowls and serve with a drizzle of cream and sprinkle of fresh basil!