Roasted Tomato and Basil Soup

Preheat oven to 400ºF. Slice tomatoes lengthwise and arrange, cut-side up, on a baking sheet. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour to desired roasted-ness.

Once tomatoes are roasted, set aside while you prepare your soup base. Chop onion. In a large stockpot, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until tender. Stir in the garlic and red pepper flakes. Cook for about 2-3 minutes. Add the canned tomatoes, fresh basil and broth to the stockpot. Stir in the oven-roasted tomatoes. Turn the heat to medium-low and cook for about 30 minutes.

At this point you can use either a food processor (and work in batches, but be careful, it will be hot!) or use an immersion blender (as I did) and puree the soup until slightly smooth (a few chunky tomatoes aren’t a bad thing in this soup).

Recipe from Two Peas and their Pod.