Roasted Tomato Red Pepper Soup

Be the first to
rate this recipe!
member ratings
Nutritional Info
  • Servings Per Recipe: 34
  • Amount Per Serving
  • Calories: 144.0
  • Total Fat: 5.7 g
  • Cholesterol: 3.8 mg
  • Sodium: 261.0 mg
  • Total Carbs: 23.2 g
  • Dietary Fiber: 5.5 g
  • Protein: 4.5 g

View full nutritional breakdown of Roasted Tomato Red Pepper Soup calories by ingredient


Introduction

Chock full of vitamins and minerals. Roasting your own tomatoes, peppers and garlic might seem like a lot of work, but this soup is so delicious that is worth it! After returning home from vacation to find that ALL of our tomatoes had ripened at the same time, and our pepper plants were laden with ripe fruit, and the onions & garlic needed to be harvested, and the basil plants had doubled in size . . . well, the recipe was a no-brainer. Recipe can be easily downsized. Chock full of vitamins and minerals. Roasting your own tomatoes, peppers and garlic might seem like a lot of work, but this soup is so delicious that is worth it! After returning home from vacation to find that ALL of our tomatoes had ripened at the same time, and our pepper plants were laden with ripe fruit, and the onions & garlic needed to be harvested, and the basil plants had doubled in size . . . well, the recipe was a no-brainer. Recipe can be easily downsized.
Number of Servings: 34

Ingredients

    30 lbs of ripe tomatoes (about 60-70)
    12 large red bell peppers
    12 heads of garlic
    2 large onions
    4 cups coarsely chopped basil
    2 packages Neufchatel or light cream cheese
    salt and pepper to taste
    1/2 cup olive oil

Tips

Serve with a sprinkle of croutons (not included in nutritional information)
You can add heavy cream to the soup if you like. (not included in nutritional info.)
A tasty way to thicken the soup (if you don't want to add the cheese) is to add cooked carrots and/or parsnips. When making a large batch of soup like this,
I might add 3-4 cups of each before processing with the wand blender.
If you are not a big basil fan, you can substitute oregano, rosemary or a mixture of all three.


Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
First, roast the garlic: remove loose, papery layer from heads and slice off 1/2" of the pointy tip. Put in bowl and toss with 1 Tbsp olive oil. Wrap in foil and place on a baking sheet. Bake for 40 minutes until golden brown.
At the same time, roast the peppers: Slice in half, remove stem and seed core. With cut side down, gently flatten with your palm and brush with 1 Tbsp of olive oil (or use spray oil) Place on foil on a baking sheet and roast 40 minutes until skins are blistered and black. Remove from oven and wrap the foil around the peppers. Let them cool before handling.
While the garlic and peppers are roasting, prepare the tomatoes: cut washed tomato in half, crossways. Gently squeeze out seeds and juice (be sure to squeeze into a strainer placed over a bowl - you'll need the juice for the recipe). Place cut, seedless tomatoes in a large bowl and toss in remaining olive oil to lightly coat. Place, cut side up, on foil lined cookie sheet and bake at 400 degrees for 40 minutes. Let cool.
Dice and brown two large onions in a heavy soup pot.
Peel off pepper skins, dice the peppers and add to pot.
Squeeze roasted garlic pulp from the bulb into the pot.
To skin the tomatoes, hold roasted half tomato, cut side down, and gently squeeze out roasted pulp, discarding skin and stem core. Add any pan juices to the soup. Add chopped basil and simmer on medium for 30 minutes. Let cool a bit and process with wand blender or food processor until smooth. Add strained tomato juice and return to simmer. Dice Neufchatel or cream cheese in 1" cubes and add, stirring frequently as it melts. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
If canning, process in pressure canner (10 lbs) for 20 minutes. This also freezes very well.

Serving Size: Makes 17 pint jars for canning or freezing, 34 1-cup servings