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This tomato soup combines the flavors of a favorite summer sandwich: the BLT. After harvesting them, roast batches of tomatoes to pack away in the freezer to use year-round. Roasting the tomatoes concentrates the rich, tomato goodness of a hot summer day for a taste you can enjoy any day of the year. (These tomatoes work well in marinara sauces, too!)
Yield: Serves 4
Ingredients
Roasted tomatoes
- 2 pounds tomatoes, quartered
- 1 T. olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
Soup
- 3 strips bacon
- 1 large leek, diced (about 1½ cups)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 cups vegetable stock
- 1 tsp. smoked paprika
- salt and pepper to taste
Garnish
- 1/4 cup chipotle mayonnaise (1/2 cup mayonnaise, 2 tsp. water, 1/4 tsp. chipotle chili powder, combined)
- 1/2 cup sliced lettuce
- 1 cup croutons
Preparation
Roasted Tomatoes
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Spread tomatoes on sheet pan. Drizzle olive oil over tomatoes, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast tomatoes 45 to 60 minutes or until very soft and slightly charred on bottom. (This step can be done ahead of time if you wish. Roast tomatoes and refrigerate two to three days in advance, or freeze tomatoes for up to six months.)
Soup
In a large soup pot, fry bacon until crisp. Remove bacon, and drain on paper towel. Set bacon aside. Set aside 2 teaspoons of bacon grease, and remove rest from pot using paper towels.
Add leek and garlic to pot with remaining bacon grease, and sauté until tender. Add roasted tomatoes, scraping in juice and charred bits from roasting pan. Then add vegetable stock, paprika, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, lower heat, and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes.
Using an immersion blender, purée soup. You also can allow it to cool for 10 minutes, then purée in a food processor or blender.
Crumble bacon; add three-quarters of it to the soup. Mix, and pour soup into four soup bowls.
Garnish
Drizzle soup with chipotle mayonnaise, and top with sliced lettuce, reserved bacon and croutons.
Excerpt from Tasty Tomatoes, part of the Popular Gardening Series, with permission from its publisher, BowTie, Inc. Purchase Tasty Tomatoes here.
