Actually I should say “our” garden, as I prep, plant, weed, prune the four sunny garden beds at my parent’s house. Mom harvests, and everyone shares. Which is a good thing, because when you are overloaded with produce you want people to share it with! Things are definitely slowing down in both mom and dad’s garden and mine. Here at the tail end of summer, we both have more green tomatoes than red, but there were still more than enough ripe tomatoes to make this roasted tomato soup. I grew up on canned tomato soup from Campbells. Personally I never liked it, but my dad loves the stuff. However roasted tomato soup made from scratch? It’s a whole different beast. There’s so much more flavor, and it’s so easy to make! You just halve the tomatoes, roast them in a hot oven with some onions, peppers, and garlic for 45 minutes, and purée them with some stock. With this recipe we’ve added a smoky, spicy touch with chipotle chiles. In our recipe we recommend topping with some thinned sour cream and either sliced fresh basil or chopped cilantro. Here’s my opinion on the greens. One would expect that a dish made with tomato and chipotle would lend itself to cilantro. And it does. But basil? That was a surprise. This soup simply sparkles with fresh basil. You can roast the tomatoes either cut side down or cut side up. We roast our cut side down because you can then easily lift the skins off of the tomatoes and peppers after they’ve charred a bit. Regarding the chipotle chiles, they pack a punch, so start with one puréed into the soup. If you still want more heat, add another. Bake in the oven 45 minutes, or until the skins of the tomatoes and peppers start to blacken. Put the roasted tomatoes, onions, peeled garlic, roasted peppers, and chipotle into a food processor or blender. Add any of the tomato liquid that may be left in the baking pan. Scrape up any browned bits on the pan (not blackened bits) and add those to the food processor bowl as well. Pulse until you have a rough purée, about 60 seconds.
