When I saw this recipe on Pinterest I just couldn’t resist making it. I have been working towards making a tomato soup that Kevin enjoys our whole marriage and finally achieved something worthy to share. Kevin and I share a very split opinion on tomato soup.
Me? I could probably live a substantial amount of time quite happily just eating tomato soup and grilled cheese.
It’s almost a punishment to Kevin. His primary complaint is that there is nothing in tomato soup….that its boring and unpalatable in its smooth emptiness. So I make creamy smooth soups for myself occassionally when he’s not around and otherwise attempt to fill our tomato soups with lots of chunks.
This one is a beautiful meld of summer tomatoes, fresh basil, thyme, oregano and sage, and spicy sausage. The tomatoes and onion are roasted to really concentrate all the wonderful depth of flavor that they have. The sausage adds that thin layer of fat to the equation and as you stir through you can see the spicy oil suspended in the broth. Pair all that with the crunch of sage covered grilled cheese in each bite and you have a perfect grown up version of this classic combo.
prep:
10 minutes
cook:
1 hour
yield:
6-8 servings
// ingredients.
1 large cookie sheet filled with tomatoes sliced in half
2 small onions
Handful of jalapenos (to taste)
8 cups water or chicken stock
1-2 bouillon cubes (if using water)
Fresh basil, oregano and thyme
3 TB garlic, minced
3 bratwursts or spicy sausages, cut into rings
1 can condensed milk or heavy cream
Salt
Pepper
Bread
Sage butter
Cheese
// instructions.
- Chop up all the tomatoes, onion and jalepenos and spread over a non stick cookie sheet. Coat lightly with olive oil and season with pepper liberally, toss to coat all sides.
- Roast at 400 degrees til browned and bubbly (around 30-40 minutes) stirring once or twice.
- Heat stock with fresh herbs and garlic (or water w/bouillion-add plenty of extra seasoning but no salt if using bouillon.)
- Saute the sausage with more garlic if you like.
- Add sausage and all pan drippings to stock.
- Add roasted vegetables to stock and simmer gently for 20 minutes or longer. If desired puree some of the vegetables with an immersion blender-we like it chunky personally.
- Butter the bread with the sage butter (fresh sage chopped mixed with butter) and make grilled cheese sandwiches. Chop into bite size pieces.
- Just before serving add heavy cream to soup. Do not boil! If you do not have heavy cream add condensed milk to each serving of soup just before serving. Adding to whole pot will result in split milk over time.
- Top with croutons and fresh basil
// notes.
Slightly modified from Family Fun's recipe.
