{Tasty Tuesdays: Roasted Tomato Basil Soup}

I like to think the Barefoot Contessa is guiding me personally when I watch her show. (I'm

kidding ... a little.) Most recently she taught me how to make roasted tomato basil soup.

Basil. Tomato. Soup. Those are just good things. So simple. So fresh.

I thought I'd cook it forward by sharing with you my first attempt at making a long-time

favorite. I put this together early in the morning the last time I donated blood. So, when

I came home, I had a nourishing, comforting, replenishing meal ready to go. 'How fabulous

is that?,' as Ina would say.

Ingredients:

3 lb. plum tomatoes (about 15), cored and cut in half lengthwise

EVOO, salt and pepper

2 yellow onions, diced

6 cloves garlic, diced

2 Tbl unsalted butter

1/4 tsp crushed red pepper (I used 1/2 tsp 'cuz we're adventurous like that.)

1 tsp. fresh thyme

29 oz. can of whole tomatoes with juice

4 c. fresh basil

1 qt. vegetable stock (or chicken)

About two tsp sugar

What to do with them:

Cut tomatoes lengthwise. Season with 1 tablespoon salt, 1 1/2 teaspoon pepper and

1/4 cup or less of EVOO. Toss. Roast in a 400 degree oven for 45 minutes.





Wash and de-stem basil. Set aside. Cut onion and garlic. In a large stockpot, saute the

onion and garlic in 2 tablespoons EVOO, 2 Tablespoons butter and red pepper flakes

for about 10 minutes. Add canned tomatoes, stock, thyme and basil. Add roasted

tomatoes, including the juice on the baking sheet.

Bring to a boil; then lower the temperature and simmer soup, uncovered, for 40 minutes.

Puree. (Ina suggested using a food mill, which does a good job of pureeing while still

leaving chunks, she says.) Since I don't have one, I took out a few tomatoes and gave

them a rough chop. Then, I lightly pureed the rest of the batch with my food processor.

I added the chunks in afterwards. Season with 2 tsp sugar, salt and pepper.

Serve with a dollop of Greek yogurt and a garnish of fresh basil or just plain

and simple in a bowl by itself. I garnished mine with an egg salad sandwich. :)





You can see more Tasty Tuesday recipes here.