Gwyneth Paltrow's Slow Roasted Tomato Soup

What makes this soup so unique? The big chunks of meaty, concentrated, oven dried tomatoes in every bite. That, and the ingredient list is five items long. This recipe first caught my eye because it was so simple and I knew it would deliver with a big depth of flavor. And how! This is my new favorite soup. There is nothing better than walking into a house that smells of roasted tomatoes and garlic on a chilly evening, and serving yourself a huge bowl with bread. If you are a dunker, those hefty chunks of tomato stay on your bread seamlessly creating the perfect bite with all those soaked up juices. Another plus is this soup is completely healthy and vegan. Don't let that deter you from making it if that scares you, though. It is so delicious, and tastes great alone, but if you sprinkle some Romano cheese on top for garnish, it becomes amazing...and vegetarian, which is a little less scary than vegan, right?

I told my friend Kel about this soup. I told her how spectacular and delicious it was. She was bewildered that it didn't have cream in it. I told her it certainly did not need cream. She said "I can't eat tomato soup without cream". Pssshhhh, Americans. I'm not going to push Kel to make this because I already know how it will go down. She will say it was awesome, but even better with cream, because she will add cream. Then she will have to dunk a grilled cheese sandwich into it because Josh, her husband hates to eat just soup for dinner. You are probably wondering what is wrong with all of this. Nothing really. It's just that this soup doesn't need all of that. It has a quiet dignity that I would not like to exploit. Serious matters to ponder I tell you.

Slow Roasted Tomato Soup

adapted from My Father's Daughter by Gwyneth Paltrow

serves 4

Slow Roasted Tomatoes

12 tomatoes (plum, beefsteak or heirloom), quartered, stems removed

6 cloves garlic, unpeeled

olive oil

Kosher salt

Heat oven to 250 degrees. Line a 18x13 jelly roll pan with aluminum foil. Place tomatoes skin side down and drizzle with olive oil until all tomatoes are covered. Drop unpeeled garlic cloves randomly around the sheet pan, drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle everything generously with salt. Roast for 3 to 3 1/2 hours or until tomatoes are shriveled, but still juicy. When done, allow the pan to cool and pop the roasted garlic out from the skin and reserve for the soup.

Slow Roasted Tomato Soup

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (or more as desired)

2 cloves garlic, minced

6 fresh, large basil leaves

1 (28-ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes, with juices

1 recipe slow roasted tomatoes, with the garlic roasted with them, removed from the skins

Kosher salt (I used 2 teaspoons)

Freshly ground pepper (I used 1/4 teaspoon)

I added a few handfuls of baby spinach as well

Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the minced garlic and cook for two minutes, stirring so that it doesn't burn. Add the basil leaves, roasted garlic reserved from the roasted tomatoes, tomatoes and juice, and 1 1/2 cups of water. Bring the soup to a boil for 1 minute, then reduce the heat to low and simmer it uncovered for 40 minutes. As it simmers gently break apart the tomatoes with a wooden spoon. After cooking stir in the slow-roasted tomatoes with any juices and season with salt and pepper. Simmer everything together for 5 more minutes and serve hot. Sprinkle with Romano cheese if desired.

I added baby spinach to make my tomato soup florentine, which was wonderful. You can also freeze the oven dried tomatoes. I like the idea of this especially because you can oven dry summer tomatoes and eat them all winter long!