Chilled Roast Tomato Soup With Pesto Food

TOMATO PESTO SOUP

Steps:

• Preheat oven at 180 C/ 350 F.
• Quarter both the roma and heirloom tomatoes. Cut the onions and carrots into big chunks.
• Place the tomatoes, carrots, onions and garlic on a baking tray, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle half teaspoon salt on top. Give everything a good toss and place in the oven to bake for an hour. Alternatively you can also grill all the vegetables on a grill pan on the stove with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkling of salt.
• Transfer the grilled vegetables with their juices into a blender. Add a cup of stock and blend till smooth.
• Transfer to a pot with the remaining stock and cook over medium heat for 5-7 minutes. Add sugar, balsamic vinegar and chilli flakes and bring it to a quick boil.
• Finish with 2-3 tablespoons of the basil pesto.
• Taste the soup for seasoning and add more pesto and salt or pepper as required. Serve hot with grilled cheese, croutons or crackers.

CREAMY TOMATO SOUP WITH PESTO

Steps:

• Heat the milk over moderate heat in a medium pot.
• Put tomatoes, tomato paste, onions, salt and pepper, sugar, flour, butter, and celery into a food processor and grind until smooth.
• Pour mixture into milk and raise heat to bring soup to a boil.
• Reduce heat and then simmer 15 minutes.
• While soup cooks, make pesto, if not using storebought.
• Fill the food processor with watercress, loosely packed.
• Add hazelnuts, 1/2 of the oil and garlic cloves to the watercress in the processor.
• Add nutmeg, salt and pepper to the processor bowl, set lid in place and pulse grind the mixture into a thick paste.
• Add any remaining watercress to the processor and grind into the paste by pulsing the processor again.
• Transfer watercress paste to a bowl.
• Stir in the remaining oil and the cheese.
• Taste pesto sauce and adjust seasonings.
• Pour soup into shallow bowls and add a couple of rounded spoonfuls of pesto to each dish and stir it into the soup.

PESTO TOMATO SOUP

Steps:

• In a pot, melt the butter over medium-high heat, then cook the shallots with some fresh thyme. Add the crushed tomatoes, 1 1/2 cups water and the heavy cream; simmer 20 minutes. Puree, then stir in the pesto. Season with salt.

CHILLED ROAST TOMATO SOUP WITH PESTO

Steps:

• Place the tomatoes cut side up in a baking tray, add the whole garlic cloves. Season well with salt and pepper, sprinkle with the sugar and drizzle over the olive oil. Roast in a moderate oven (180C/375F/Gas 4) for about 45 minutes, until the tomatoes are lightly browned and beginning to ooze juice. Remove the tray from the oven and leave to cool for a few moments.
• Pick out the roasted garlic cloves and squeeze the soft flesh out of the browned papery husks onto a saucer. Place a sieve over a bowl and rub the tomatoes through it to extract the juice and flesh. Rub the roasted garlic pulp through the sieve as well, along with any oily juices from the pan.
• Tomatoes vary in juiciness and flavour, so taste the mixture and adjust the seasonings. Thinning with a little stock, or even water, may help to get the flavour and consistency you want. Remember that the flavours will be muted somewhat when the soup is chilled.
• Place the bowl in the fridge and chill for at least four hours (or accelerate the chilling process by placing the bowl in a larger bowl of ice and water and stirring occasionally).
• Pound together, or chop together with a large knife, the basil, garlic and pine nuts, until you have a fine grained pulp. Stir into the olive oil. This pesto is meant to be quite runny. Leaving to stand for an hour or two will mellow the harsh edge of the raw garlic.
• Serve the soup by ladling into chilled bowls and drizzling a generous tablespoon of the pesto over each bowl.

ROASTED TOMATO BASIL SOUP

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Toss together the tomatoes, 1/4 cup olive oil, salt, and pepper. Spread the tomatoes in 1 layer on a baking sheet and roast for 45 minutes.
• In an 8-quart stockpot over medium heat, saute the onions and garlic with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, the butter, and red pepper flakes for 10 minutes, until the onions start to brown. Add the canned tomatoes, basil, thyme, and chicken stock. Add the oven-roasted tomatoes, including the liquid on the baking sheet. Bring to a boil and simmer uncovered for 40 minutes. Pass through a food mill fitted with the coarsest blade. Taste for seasonings. Serve hot or cold.

FARMSTAND TOMATO SOUP WITH ARUGULA PESTO

Steps:

• To Make the Soup:
• Preheat the oven to 400°F. Set the cored tomatoes on a rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and roast them until they look wrinkly, about 30 minutes; set aside. While the tomatoes cool, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil in a small sauté pan. Add the shallots and 2 cloves chopped garlic and sauté over medium-low heat until they turn golden brown and caramelized, 15 to 20 minutes; set aside.
• When the tomatoes are cool enough to handle, peel off the skins, which should slip off easily. Put the peeled tomatoes in the jar of a blender along with the sautéed shallots and garlic, crushed tomatoes (with juice), 1 tablespoon salt, and sugar. Process until the soup is smooth. Stir in the cream and vodka, if desired. Refrigerate in a covered bowl for at least 6 hours, or preferably overnight.
• To Make the Pesto:
• Toast the pine nuts, stirring occasionally, in a skillet set on medium heat until they turn golden brown, about 4 minutes. Combine the arugula, pine nuts, 2 cloves garlic, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and lemon juice in the jar of a blender or the work bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade, then slowly add in the olive oil through the feed tube and process. Transfer the pesto to a bowl and stir in the Parmesan.
• To Serve:
• Ladle the chilled soup into individual serving bowls, and swirl 1 tablespoon of pesto into each.
• Do it early
• The soup can be made up to 4 days in advance and refrigerated. Ditto for the pesto. Both should be well covered. Arugula pesto does not brown when exposed to oxygen as does its more common cousin, basil pesto.
• Variation
• The more traditional-minded may prefer a basil pesto. Also, you can eliminate the cream and top the soup with a dollop of crème fraîche or Greek-style yogurt and a drizzle of pesto.

TOMATO & BASIL SOUP

Steps:

• Heat the butter or oil in a large pan, then add the garlic and soften for a few minutes over a low heat. Add the sundried or SunBlush tomatoes, canned tomatoes, stock, sugar and seasoning, then bring to a simmer. Let the soup bubble for 10 mins until the tomatoes have broken down a little.
• Whizz with a stick blender, adding half the pot of soured cream as you go. Taste and adjust the seasoning - add more sugar if you need to. Serve in bowls with 1 tbsp or so of the pesto swirled on top, a little more soured cream and scatter with basil leaves.

SOUL-WARMING TOMATO-PESTO SOUP

Steps:

• Combine vegetable broth, tomatoes, tomato paste, celery, onions, garlic, carrot, water, oregano, thyme, and pepper in a 3- to 4-quart slow cooker and mix to blend. Cover and cook on Low, 8 to 10 hours.
• Stir rice and pesto into the cooker; cover, and let stand until rice is tender, 6 to 8 minutes. Serve soup topped with shredded Parmesan cheese and with crusty bread on the side.