Instructions
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Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place tomatoes on a rimmed baking sheet and toss with 3 Tbsp olive oil then season with salt and pepper (place Roma halves cut side upright).
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Place onion slices and garlic on a rimmed half sheet and toss brush with remaining 1 1/2 Tbsp olive oil on all sides, sprinkle with salt and pepper.
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Place baking sheet with tomatoes and half sheet with onions in oven side by side and roast garlic 15 minutes (or until just golden) and remove, roast onions 30 – 35 minutes (until edges are golden brown) and remove, and tomatoes 40 – 45 minutes until slightly browned.
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Pour tomatoes, onions and garlic into a large pot. Add vegetable broth and about 3/4 of the basil. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
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Bring to a boil, cover, then reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes.
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Blend soup with an immersion blender or in small batches in a blender (only fill blender half full and remove center insert and cover with a kitchen towel). Serve warm topped with remaining basil (chopped).
Notes
For the grilled cheese or grilled cheese croutons:
- Use 6 slices of hearty sourdough, wheat or white bread. Brush outsides of all slices with 1/2 Tbsp of butter on each. Sprinkle 1/2 cup (2 oz) shredded mozzarella or cheddar over non-buttered sides of three slices. Top with remaining 3 slices of bread with buttered side up. Cook in a skillet over medium heat, reducing to medium-low as needed, until bottom is golden brown. Flip and cook opposite side until golden. Cut in half if serving as a sandwich or if serving as croutons in the soup cool just slightly then cut into squares.
- Optionally you can pull peels from tomatoes if preferred. You can also leave basil on the sprigs then remove sprigs before blending if desired.
- For a creamy tomato soup you can add 1/2 cup to 1 cup heavy cream to the soup. For a cheesy flavor you can serve with finely shredded parmesan cheese.
- Recipe makes about 9 cups soup.
