Creamy Tomato Basil Soup From Roasted Romas, With Grilled Cheese
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About 541 calories per serving, estimated from the ingredient list.
It is 6:48 on a Thursday, rain is ticking on the window, and the day went about as well as a first date who brought up their ex before the drinks arrived. This creamy tomato basil soup holds your hand without asking questions, and it comes with grilled cheese, which is more than they were offering.
Roasted until it blisters, blended until it is velvet, basil at the very end.
For this creamy tomato basil soup, Roma tomatoes and garlic cloves roast in a 400-degree oven until they slump and blister, then get blended with broth into something deep red and velvety. A little cream rounds off the edges and the basil goes in at the very end, so it stays fresh and green rather than stewed. The crusty bread and cheddar on the list become the grilled cheese.
What you need
- 2 lb roma tomatoes
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- ¼ cup fresh basil
- 4 garlic cloves
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 16 oz crusty bread
- 4 slices cheddar cheese slices
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
How to make it
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and halve the 2 lbs Roma tomatoes then toss them with 2 tbsp olive oil the 4 garlic cloves salt and black pepper.
- Spread the tomatoes on a baking sheet and roast for 20 minutes until softened and blistered.
- Transfer the roasted tomatoes and garlic to a pot and add 2 cups vegetable broth then bring to a simmer.
- Blend the soup with an immersion blender until smooth.
- Stir in 1/4 cup heavy cream and the 1/4 cup fresh basil then season with salt and black pepper to taste.
- Ladle the soup into bowls and serve with slices of crusty bread and the 4 slices of cheddar cheese for making grilled cheese on the side.
Notes
Cooked leftovers keep three to four days refrigerated, per USDA FSIS. A creamy tomato basil soup thickens slightly overnight; loosen it with a splash of broth or water as it reheats.
If you want to freeze it, freeze the blended base before the cream and basil go in. Cream-based soups can turn grainy after freezing, and basil goes dark and dull. Thaw, reheat, then stir in the cream and fresh basil as if you had just made it.
Once the cream is in, warm the soup gently and keep it below a boil. A hard boil can make the cream separate and leave the surface looking curdled.
An immersion blender is the easy way. If you use a countertop blender, fill the jug no more than halfway with the hot soup, take the small cap out of the lid, and hold a folded towel over the hole while it runs. Hot liquid expands as it blends, and a sealed jug can blow its lid.
Roma tomatoes are the right call here because they are meaty and less watery than many slicing tomatoes, so the soup comes out thick without a long simmer.
The method says to season with salt to taste, and taste is the operative word. Two pounds of tomatoes, a pot of broth and a quarter cup of cream can absorb more salt than the starting quarter teaspoon, so taste after blending and adjust.
If you swiped this after a bad day and the agent is shopping two pounds of Romas while you lie on the couch, that is the healthiest relationship in your week. Let it work.
Swaps that actually work
In a creamy tomato basil soup, the tomatoes are the point. Roma is the natural fit, but any ripe tomato works; juicier varieties throw more liquid, so expect to simmer the soup down a little longer. In the depths of winter, a can of whole peeled tomatoes, drained and roasted the same way, makes a perfectly good soup.
Vegetable broth keeps it vegetarian. Chicken broth works too and adds a little savory depth. The soup is easygoing about this, which makes one of you tonight.
For the cream, half-and-half gives a lighter soup, and full-fat coconut milk is the dairy-free swap, with a faint coconut note that suits the roasted tomato more than you would expect. You can also skip the cream entirely for a brighter, sharper bowl.
Fresh basil matters. Dried basil tastes of very little in a soup this simple, so if fresh is out, a spoonful of basil pesto stirred in at the end does the same job.
The cheddar can become Gruyère, provolone or American slices, anything that melts. The crusty bread can be sourdough or a plain sandwich loaf.
The swap that costs you the dish is boiling the basil in with the tomatoes. It turns dark and loses its perfume, and you end up with tomato soup that just has green flecks in it.
If it goes wrong
It tastes sharp and acidic. The tomatoes went in pale, before they had blistered and slumped. Roast them until the edges are browned and collapsing, because that color is where the sweetness comes from. To rescue a sharp pot now, simmer it a few minutes longer and stir in a little extra cream.
It is thin and watery. The tomatoes were juicy, or the broth went in all at once. Simmer the soup uncovered before the cream goes in until it thickens enough to coat a spoon.
It looks grainy or split. It boiled after the cream went in. Take it off the heat, blend again for a few seconds, and stir in a splash of cold cream to bring it back together.
It is flat. Salt. Add it a pinch at a time and taste between pinches, then finish with a grind of black pepper.
What to serve with it
The default is the grilled cheese the recipe sets up: cheddar between two slices of crusty bread, toasted in a dry skillet until golden on both sides and melted in the middle. Butter on the outside, if you have it, makes it richer and browner.
The better version of the default cuts the grilled cheese into strips for dunking, which is how you find out who you really are.
The thing in the fridge that lifts it is a swirl of olive oil and a few extra basil leaves on top, or croutons torn from the end of the crusty bread and crisped in the oven while it is still hot from the tomatoes.
It is a very good lunch the next day, reheated in a thermos.
Why this one earns its place
This creamy tomato basil soup takes a handful of plain ingredients and makes them taste like you spent your evening on it, when the oven did most of the work, and it reheats into a lunch you will be glad to see.
It is also the bad-day dinner that does not judge you for eating it on the couch. Swipe it into your week and the tomatoes arrive with the rest of the shop.
If you are in a soup mood, chicken noodle soup is the other half of the comfort shelf, and French onion soup meatballs take the same cozy energy somewhere heartier. And if you buy tomatoes with good intentions and watch them go soft, meal planning to cut food waste is the fix.
More like this: all American recipes in Crave Corner.