In the Kitchen: Tomato Soup with Roasted Garlic

by Ethan Johnson
March 5, 2007

This may gunk up some access filters out there, but simply put, there's a reason for the term "food porn". Take this recipe - please! I was checking out a food-themed blog and found this recipe, and I kept staring at the photos and the ingredient list longingly. More than once, I took in the whole spread and thought "that is happening for real!" Clear your pantry of the old standby... it's time to step up to higher taste with:

Tomato Soup with Roasted Garlic

Tomato Soup with Roasted Garlic

Recipe adapted from Get-well-quickly tomato soup found on the Homesick Texan blog. (Note: The recipe has been modified to satisfy Vegans and Omnivores alike.) Be sure to click through and thank Lisa for sharing this great recipe (and check out her porny soup photos - much better than mine).

1 28 oz. can of crushed tomatoes
1 head of garlic, roasted (see instructions)
1 medium onion, diced
1 celery stalk, trimmed and diced
1 carrot, peeled and diced
2 Tbsp fresh basil, finely chopped
3 Tbsp pure olive oil
1 tsp sugar
2 cups of (Vegan) heavy cream
3 Tbsp grated hard (Vegan) cheese (Parmesan, Romano or Asiago)
Kosher salt
Fresh cracked pepper
2 pieces of cooked bacon (optional)
Crusty bread to serve

(Serves 2-3.)

We begin by preheating the oven to 250F/121C.
Split garlic bulb into individual cloves. Do not peel, but cut the root ends off of the cloves and remove the papery skins (from the outer bulb). Place garlic onto a small piece of foil, drizzle with 1 Tbsp olive oil, wrap into a neat, flat parcel and place into oven (straight onto oven rack) for 1 hour.
While the garlic is roasting, trim the celery, and slice lengthwise in half. Line up the halved celery sticks and cut into small/moderate dice. Set aside on corner of cutting board.
Peel the carrot, and slice lengthwise in half, and then into quarters. Line up the carrot sticks and cut into small/moderate dice. Set aside with celery.
Dice the onion, and set aside with the other vegetables.
(Optional) Coarsely chop one piece of cooked bacon, and add to the vegetable pile. In this example, I cheated and used pre-fab salad bacon, which was passable in a pinch. (Do not use "bacon bits".)
Cover the bottom of an ovenproof dutch oven-style pot with olive oil (approx 2 Tbsp) and set over low heat.
After oil is heated, add vegetables (and bacon if using) to pot. Sweat the contents of the pot for 15 minutes.
While the pot ingredients sweat, finely chop the fresh basil and set aside.
Have the tsp of sugar and canned tomatoes at the ready next to the stove. If using, coarsely chop the second piece of bacon.
Here are the contents of the pot after 15 minutes of sweating:
Add the basil, tomatoes, (bacon if using), and sugar to the pot.
Raise pot heat to medium, stir contents thoroughly, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to "lower than low" and cover pot. Simmer for 30 minutes.
Remove the garlic from the oven close to the 30-minute mark (which should coincide with 60 minutes of oven roasting), and open foil packet carefully. Squeeze garlic cloves out of their skins and add to pot.
Add cheese and stir pot contents thoroughly to combine.
Cover pot and simmer for an additional 30 minutes.
Turn off heat and let pot cool for 10-15 minutes.
Transfer contents of pot into a blender or food processor. Puree/pulse ingredients until smooth.
Return the pureed ingredients to the pot.
Set pot over low heat, and add salt and pepper to taste. Add heavy cream in small amounts and stir thoroughly to combine. For thicker soup, use less cream, for thinner soup, use more.
When soup reaches desired consistency and is heated through, ladle into bowls and serve.
Don't forget some hearty crusty bread!
Mmmmmm!