Creamy Tomato Soup

As I’ve written many times before on Planet Byn, January is the saddest month for a baker. No one is interested in eating treats, and that’s proven true at my new job as well. The formerly well-stocked Snack Station (an empty desk in the middle of the area we work) is now a barren wasteland consisting of a broken candy cane and a solitary Lindt truffle.

I don’t want to make anyone upset or be responsible for ruining detoxes and cleanses, so I typically observe January as a bake-free month*. To that end, I thought I’d talk about a couple of savoury recipes that are perfect for hibernation season.

I’m not really a huge soup fan, but the one that I love, love, love is Creamy Tomato Soup! I first made this recipe from Smitten Kitchen many years ago, and it’s so delicious and totally perfect. I cheated on this recipe only once, testing a version that was supposed to be a Panera copy-cat, and it didn’t even come close. This is the only one for me!

Smitten’s recipe is just a little bit labour intensive, but in my opinion, well worth it. It uses canned whole tomatoes, but you split them open, lay them out on a baking sheet, sprinkle them with brown sugar and roast them until they’re totally caramelized. They get added to sautéed onions in butter, plus some veggie stock, then blended until smooth and finished with cream. If you make a grilled cheese to eat and dunk with it, you’ve just achieved peak winter lunch happiness.

*With the exception of my niece’s birthday cake, which you’ll see soon!

Creamy Tomato Soup

Source: Smitten Kitchen

Ingredients

  • 2 x 28oz cans whole tomatoes
  • 1 1/2 tbsp brown sugar
  • 4 tbsp (1/2 stick) butter
  • 1/2 cup minced onion
  • 1 tbsp tomato paste
  • 2 tbsp flour
  • 1 3/4 cup vegetable stock
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • salt to taste

Directions

  1. Heat oven to 450º and line a large baking sheet with foil and spray with non-stick spray. Set up a large strainer over a bowl.
  2. Pour the tomatoes into the strainer. With your fingers, open the tomatoes and let the juices and seeds fall through the strainer. Spread the tomatoes out on the foil in a single layer and sprinkle evenly with brown sugar. Roast for 30 minutes. Set the reserved tomato juice aside.
  3. In a large saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter, then add the onion and tomato paste and sauté for about 10 minutes until onion is softened, lowering the heat if needed so they don’t burn.
  4. Add the flour and whisk for 30 seconds, then add the stock, whisking constantly, followed by the reserved tomato juice.
  5. Carefully scrape the tomatoes off the baking sheet and add to the saucepan. Cover and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and let simmer for 10 minutes.
  6. Use an immersion blender to blend the soup until it’s smooth. Add the cream and heat again until hot. Taste and see if needs salt. I think I usually add about 1 tsp.