There are numerous ways to elevate a basic soup, whether it is canned or fresh. As Nicole from The Tarnished Apple, I always aim to create my recipes from scratch! It's better, healthier, and made with love. by al means cans are fine to especially if you are in a hurry.
To enhance your tomato soup, start with fresh ingredients. Visit your local Farmers' Market or favorite grocery store.
Ensure the vegetables you select are fragrant and vibrant in color. Make sure you do not get a fruit or vegetable that is mushy or rotton even discolored. Once home, clean them thoroughly and dry them well.
For this tomato soup, I added fresh basil pesto along with crunchy, toasty, and cheesy croutons.
Check out the recipe to see how I turned a simple tomato soup into something delicious! You can do it!
Prep Time: 20 min.
Cook time: 40 min- 1 hour
Serves: serves 4=1cup per person
You will need:
1 sheet pan
medium saucepan
blender
wooden spoon
Ingredients
10 quartered tomatoes (roma are always good).
1 head of garlic
1 tbsp. tomato paste
2 tablespoons of honey
1/2 white medium onion
1 1/2 cups of Veggie stock
Salt & pepper
Fresh Basil (finishing touches)
Olive oil
1/2 tsp. of Garlic salt
1/2 tsp of Onion salt
Cut the tomatoes into halves or quarters and place them on the sheet pan. Add a head of garlic, with the bottom of the bulb cut off about 1/2 inch.(make sure the open part of the garlic bulb if facing up). Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt, and pepper. Include 1 chopped medium white onion on the sheet pan with the tomatoes. Ensure the oven is set to 350 degrees. Place the tomatoes in the oven and let them cook and render for an hour. Trust me, it's worth it. You'll notice the tomatoes taking on a deeper red hue. It enhances the flavor of the tomatoes and other vegetables. It smells amazing!
Once the tomatoes have softened and you can smell their roasted aroma, they are ready to be removed from the oven and placed into the saucepan on the stove.
In the saucepan with the tomatoes, add 3 roasted garlic cloves by squeezing them into the pot. Include 2 tablespoons of tomato paste, followed by 1/2 teaspoon each of garlic, onion salt, and S&P. I added 1 tablespoon of honey to the soup for a touch of sweetness and richness. Use a hand blender to puree the mixture until it is thick. Gradually add vegetable stock to achieve a smooth consistency; I used 1 1/2 cups.
Stir with a wooden spoon over low to medium heat until warmed through, then add fresh basil pesto over the cheesy croutons. Roll up 3 or 4 basil leaves and slice them thinly before stirring them in.
My Basil Pesto recipe below:
Basil Pesto
1cup of fresh basil leaves
1cup of arugula or baby spinach
1/3c. walnuts
1 garlic clove
1/3c. grated fresh parmasan cheese
1tablespoon of apple cider vinager
1 teaspoon of honey
salt&pepper to taste
1/3c. of good olive oil
Place the basil, arugula, garlic, walnuts, honey, and Parmesan cheese into a food processor or mini chopper. Secure the lid, turn it on, and begin processing. Gradually pour the olive oil into the basil mixture until you achieve the desired texture—not too thick, but smooth enough to easily come off the spoon. Then, add the acids and seasoning to taste and blend thoroughly.
Homemade croutons
1/2 a loaf of Old French bread
Drizzle of Olive oil
1 tsp of Garlic salt
1 tsp of Onion salt
1 tsp of Dried oregano
2 tablespoons of parmesan cheese
Cube up your French bread into 1 inch pieces. Put on a sheet pan with a drizzle of olive oil. Sprinkle over garlic salt, onion salt and dried oregano and parmesan to your taste. Make sure you toss the bread cubes carefully, so they are covered with the olive oil and seasoning.
Put in a heated over of 350 degrees for 8-10min. watching closely they don't burn. Should be nice, crunchy and slightly browned. You can top them with chopped basil as well for the top of your soup.
The tomato that takes me home.
I know fresh ingredients are always better. Fresh tomatoes in the oven that are roasted with some olive oil and S & P are absolutely wonderful. Being in Florida I have to use up my veggies quickly because they don’t last too long. So when I see that I don’t have time to cook up my week old tomatoes, I usually cut them in half or quarters and throw them in the freezer. Making this soup is about comfort and reminds me of home. I grew up with a veggie garden and my father always had tomatoes in his garden. So this just takes me home to very special place in my heart. That I wish I could get back. The memory of food!
He had so many different tomatoes in his garden That's why I have learned so much about home grown foods.
So I know that there are a wide variety of tomatoes, to choose from. When they roast, they all have their own flavor happening. The smaller tomatoes like the Cherry Bombs or cherry Tomatoes are very sweet and have a nice pop to them especially when they are roasted.
Then there are the Campari tomatoes that are like small cherry tomatoes but a little bigger will still have a nice sweet flavor. There’s the beef steak tomatoes that are very meaty and hold together well on a sandwich and are great breaded and stuffed! Vine tomatoes are ripened on the vine then picked, they are great roasted with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar with a goat cheese crustini Then there are the Roma tomatoes, they are great for roasting! Great for canning and making tomato paste out of them.
Most of the tomatoes that I used in my soup today were vine tomatoes and they still tasted great in the soup. You would never know they were frozen. What can you do with your frozen tomatoes? lots send me some pics!
All of the photos you see on the tarnished apple are shot by me! These were taken at The Saturday Morning Market in St. Pete's Florida. One of my favorite markets!
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