Roasted Tomato Soup

This soup is simply delectable. Delicious. Scrumptious. Even my Thesaurus can’t do it justice.

I think the secret is in the lemon zest.

The recipe comes from Laurie Latour, host of the outstanding web site, http://www.futurechristianhomemakers.com/. For all kinds of recipes and homemaking encouragement, check out Laurie’s Online Letter archives.

A teacher by training, Laurie has a heart, and a real gift, for teaching homemaking skills to the next generation. Her book, FCH Handbook, is an excellent resource for any woman who wants to teach her daughters skills in cooking, sewing, and homemaking.

Another resource Laurie offers is the book Classic Prayers for Children, which would make a great Christmas gift. As Laurie says, “Where can you get a gift that has eternal value encouraging children to pray, for $10?!"




On to the soup:

ROASTED TOMATO SOUP

1 - 2 T. olive oil
5 - 6 lbs. tomatoes
½ c. orange juice
1 - 2 cans chicken broth or vegetable broth (I use 2 c. water plus 2 t. instant chicken bouillon)
3 bay leaves
1 t. lemon zest
Salt & pepper to taste

Cover two jelly roll pans (with sides to catch juice) with aluminum foil. Wash and dry tomatoes. (I cut out the cores here, too.) Don’t use cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes, as they are too small. Rub a bit of olive oil on the tomatoes, and set on the pan. Roast at 350 degrees until tomato skins are blackened on top. This takes about 1½ - 2 hours. Remove from oven and set aside to cool for about 20 minutes. Slip the skins off the tomatoes. Place pulp in blender or food processor and puree in batches until smooth. Put the puree in saucepan; add the rest of ingredients and simmer gently about 10 minutes. Remove bay leaves and serve.




This is wonderful cold, too. I usually cut the recipe in half as we have only 2 or 3 pounds of ripe tomatoes at a time. Laurie reports that it freezes well, but it has never lasted long enough to freeze at our house. For variations to add more nutritional value, see Laurie’s recipe for Chicken Noodle Soup.