Sundried Tomato Soup with Badass Croutons

It is still feeling very much like winter here and the other day I was craving soup. Not just any soup, tomato soup. But I wanted something more. Something more complex and potentially interesting. I found this recipe and took off with it.

I am so glad I did. This is the best tomato soup I have ever had.

Foodie Note: Roasted Garlic

This recipe requires two heads of roasted garlic. You can watch my foodie minute on how to make it or read my tutorial. You might want to get your exhaust fan going when you make this. Turns out roasting two heads of garlic can be kind of overpowering, even for me and I love the scent!

The Recipe

Here I have prepared the roasted garlic, chopped one small onion and measured 14 oz of diced tomatoes.

I also chopped 1/2 cup of oil-packed sundried tomatoes. Love the idea of using 2 types of tomatoes.

I melted 1 tbsp of butter into 1 tbsp olive oil in a large pot. I cooked the onion over moderate heat until softened, around 4 minutes. Then I squeezed in the roasted garlic, stirring for 30 seconds.

I strained the tomatoes and reserved the juice for later and added the canned and sundried tomatoes to the pot.

I combined the reserved tomato juice with chicken broth so it measured 3 cups of liquid. I added the liquid to the pot and seasoned with salt and pepper. I covered and simmered over low heat for around 20 minutes.

Food Note: Tomato Paste

I had a big can of tomato paste that I just did not know what to do with. A while ago I got out my ice cream soup and divvied out the paste on a parchment-lined baking sheet and froze into pucks. Then I put them into a bag and waited for a day like this soup-making day.

After the soup had simmered I added the puck of tomato paste to the soup. I was suppose to add just 1 tbsp but I thought this would be fine. I let it melt and meld into the soup.

I transfered the soup in small batches to my blender and blended until nice and smooth.

You can try using your immersion blender or food processor but I find the best way to get a velvety soup is the blender. Period. Which is why I now have two!

I personally did not want heavy cream so I left the soup as-is. But something was missing…

Badass Croutons

I took the “Gordon Ramsay Focaccia” that I had screwed up and cut it into giant cubes, tossed in olive oil and sprinkled with salt and pep and then baked in a 350F oven for 15 minutes.

Foodie Results

Much better! They got all nice, toasty, golden brown and soaked up the soup. It was like an entire meal in a bowl, I loved it. The soup really did not need the added richness of the cream, it had wonderful depth of flavour and texture thanks to the sundried tomatoes and roasted garlic.

OK, I personally think this is quite badass. So Chef Ramsay… Have I redeemed myself now?!