The best tomato soup

We have an abundance of homegrown tomatoes at the moment. Every year at this time I make tomato soup, because, really, is there anything better?

Anyway, yesterday was deemed tomato soup day and we agreed that this was the best tomato soup I have ever made.  It tasted like cream of tomato soup, but no butter or cream had been added.  I can’t really explain where that creaminess came from, other than maybe the roasted garlic, but it was delicious. Roasting the tomatoes and the garlic first makes a big difference to the flavour, so don’t leave this stage out.

Serves 4 or 2 greedy people

500g fresh tomatoes
4 cloves garlic unpeeled
olive oil
2-3 rashers of bacon
1 small onion or a couple of shallots
550ml (1 pint) vegetable stock

Method

Put the whole tomatoes and the unpeeled cloves of garlic onto a baking sheet and drizzle with a good glug of olive oil and place in a preheated oven at 200°c (gas mark 6) or the roasting oven of the Aga for about 20 minutes until nicely roasted and starting to brown a little around the edges.

In the meantime, slice the onion and dice the bacon and fry in a large pan with a little olive oil over a medium heat until the onion is translucent and the bacon is cooked.

Add the roasted tomatoes, with all the lovely juices, to the bacon and onion and squeeze the roasted garlic out of its skin and add to the tomatoey mixture.  Add the vegetable stock and simmer for about 20 minutes.

Take the soup off the heat and whizz with a hand-held blender or in a food processor or blender until smooth.

Place back on the heat to warm through and serve in warmed bowls, with lots of bread for dunking.

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21 thoughts on “The best tomato soup”

  1. Ah, now your just boasting – an abundance of tomatoes indeed! Perhaps you can tell, I’m a little envious. We don’t have a greenhouse or polytunnel so try and grow them outdoors, usually with little success. They succumbed to blight again this year, though we managed to salvage a handful.

    Perhaps the creaminess comes from the roasting – sounds delicious anyway.

    1. Oh not the dreaded blight! Before we got the greenhouse we tried tomatoes outdoors, and we did have one success one really hot summer – but only a couple of handfuls. Then we tried our porch, and then realised we couldn’t actually get in the house. Maybe you are right about the creaminess coming from the roasting, I was very surprised at just how creamy tasting it was.

  2. Wonderful-Wonderful.
    I think that the creaminess comes from those homegrown tomatoes themselves.
    Not long ago, I cooked down a passel of my cherry tomatoes with little more than a bit of onion, garlic, olive oil, and was astonished at how silky it was, after I ran it through the food mill.
    Jewels of the garden, these tomatoes!

  3. I’ll have a go at this one, I too have a glut of tomatoes (grown outside; get in!). I wouldn’t have roasted them until I read this; but seems like a good idea.

    Much as I’ve been enjoying cheese and tomato butties for lunch, there’s only so many days running I can eat them.

    1. Oh VBB – look who’s boasting now! Seriously, that is quite an achievement. Mr OC and I were saying that we can now understand why they end up throwing tomatoes at one another in Spain! I really have to stop doing tomato pasta sauce. Please try it and let me know how you get on with the soup.

  4. Just came across your tomato soup, can’t wait to try this!! all tomato soup fans and will be great to try to make my own, Thanks Kath

  5. Just found this wonderful website. I have had an Aga for about a year now and will enjoy trying out all of these recipes. Thank you.
    Karen

  6. very creamy and nice – i didn’t have bacon but lovely recipe. made from the last of the crop i took off yesterday before pulling up the vine. popped mine in the baking oven for 30mins aswell before blending down. dinner for tonight!

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