Thursday, September 1, 2011

Gwyneth Paltrow's Slow Roasted Tomato Soup

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?

IMG_5878
IMG_5879

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.

IMG_5895

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!

15 comments:

  1. I am absolutely going to be making this one night next week. My husband is that way about soup, too, so I believe there will be a panini involved.

    ReplyDelete
  2. i just got her cook book... haven't made anything yet. but i have big plans :) this soup looks amazing!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Krysta, you're wrong. Kel would have to make a grilled MEAT and cheese sandwich to dunk. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  4. HAHAHA, SEE...I am not the only one with a meat loving husband. I do love me a good grilled cheese too. Tomato soup is not tomato soup without a grilled cheese with smoked gouda and fontina cheese....I'm sorry. :) I will not use cream though...to preserve the (and I quote) the "quiet dignity" of the soup. I will respect. HOLLA

    ReplyDelete
  5. Krysta, I love tomatoes absolutely every way possible with the exception of tomato soup. I just have not ever wanted to eat it for some strange reason. You have completely changed my mind with this soup. I just pinned it and it will be going on our menu especially with the spinach. Yum! Thank you for sharing it and for completely changing my mind this afternoon. Have a wonderful weekend, Candace

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anything that involves slow-roasting tomatoes is bound to be a hit. I just love the rich, sweet flavor it imparts in tomatoes. This sounds delish...I love most everything from Gwyneth, I've found!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Wow this looks so good. I definitely need to go get her cookbook now!

    xo

    ReplyDelete
  8. I'm the same way as Candace - I LOVE tomatoes, love chunky sauces/salsas, but never desired tomato soup. THIS I'm going to make tomorrow! I'm over here drooling and wishing I could reach into my computer and just taste this right now!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Can we get some nutritrion information on this?
    It's delicious, but I need a way to chart it.

    ReplyDelete
  10. She doesn't provide any nutritional information in the cookbook, and I'm afraid I wouldn't know how to calculate that either.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I think about it is most required for making more on this get engaged

    pcos diet chart vegetarian

    ReplyDelete