Chilled Roasted 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.

CREAM OF TOMATO SOUP WITH PESTO

Steps:

• Pour chicken broth into a large saucepan, and bring to a boil. Boil until reduced by about 1/3.
• Pour in both cans of the tomatoes, and return to a simmer. Pour in the half-and-half, and turn heat to low. Simmer for 15 minutes. Puree in batches in a blender, or use an immersion blender in the pan. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Ladle into bowls, and swirl in a spoonful of pesto before serving.

CREAMY TOMATO SOUP

Steps:

• Melt butter in a large saucepan.
• Saute celery, carrots and onions in melted butter until tender.
• Stir in flour.
• Cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
• Add the tomatoes, sugar, basil, marjoram, bay leaf and chicken stock.
• Simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Remove from heat and discard bay leaf.
• Puree well (in batches) in a food processor or blender, or use a thunderstick.
• Add all remaining ingredients and stir well.
• Reheat to serve hot, or refrigerate and serve cold later. It also works at room temperature, but I like warm to hot best.

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.

CHILLED ROASTED TOMATO SOUP WITH PESTO

Steps:

• Prepare barbecue (medium-high heat). Lightly oil grill rack. Cut 1-inch-wide slice from top and bottom of bell pepper and reserve. Cut pepper open lengthwise and press flat. Cut off ribs and remove seeds; discard. Grill tomatoes, flattened pepper, and top and bottom slices of pepper until skins are charred, turning occasionally, about 7 minutes for tomatoes and 10 minutes for pepper; transfer to plate to cool. Peel tomatoes and pepper; coarsely chop pepper.
• Puree tomatoes, pepper, 1/2 cup tomato-vegetable juice, and next 3 ingredients in processor until almost smooth. Transfer to bowl. Add 1 1/2 cups tomato-vegetable juice; season soup to taste with salt and pepper.
• Finely chop basil leaves, pine nuts, and garlic in processor. With machine running, add oil and puree until almost smooth. Season pesto to taste with salt and pepper. (Soup and pesto can be made 1 day ahead. Cover separately and refrigerate.)
• Divide soup among 6 bowls. Top each with 1 spoonful pesto; serve with breadsticks.

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.

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.