I know that soup is not considered a real dinner dish for a lot of people. So most of the time I serve it with some bread on the side.
I, myself, love to have soup for dinner at least once a week. I like the taste and consistency of most soups, but there’s also a practical reason behind my weekly soup fetish. It’s a great way to get rid of the left over veggies which otherwise would end up in the bin. And that would be a total waste. The way I see it, these soups serve at least three purposes: my health, the environment and my budget.
I’ve made soups in all colors of the rainbow, depending on what was left in the fridge. Some better than others, I’ll admit that. Not all combinations of veggies create an equal divine taste. But experimenting is one of the fun parts in cooking.
For this Tomato Soup I didn’t have to do a lot of experimenting since it is a soup that I’ve made multiple times. Each time with a different set of herbs, but the base remains the same: roasted bell pepper and tomatoes.
This is not a soup that is made quickly. A lot of my empty-the-fridge-soups often come together within half an hour. Cut up the veggies, add water and herbs and boil, that’s it. This one is a little different because some of the veggies have to be roasted in the oven first, and that’s what takes up most of the time in this recipe.
So I consider this more of a weekend soup, when you’ve got some time on your hands on a Saturday afternoon for example. The recipe makes 4-5 servings, but since it takes quite a bit of time to make it you might want to double or triple the amount of soup you make. It’s totally possible to freeze it and have the soup on other days for lunch for example. Anyway, lunch, dinner or snack, this soup tastes great whenever you eat it.
Tomato Soup Recipe
800 grams of tomatoes (I used cherry tomatoes)
500 grams of bell peppers, red and orange
200 grams of sweet potato
1 red onion, medium size
1 yellow onion, medium size
2 cloves of garlic
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of paprika powder
1/2 teaspoon of turmeric powder
1150 ml of water
If you use regular tomatoes instead of cherry tomatoes, then cut them into quarters.
Cut the peppers into quarters, remove the seeds.
Put the tomatoes and bell peppers on a baking tray lined with baking paper and bake for 1 hour at 390 degrees Fahrenheit/200 degrees Fahrenheit.
After 45 minutes remove the roasted tomatoes and set aside, roast the bell peppers for the remaining 15 minutes.
While your tomatoes and bell peppers are roasting you can peel and cut the sweet potato, onions and garlic.
Heat the olive oil in a big cooking pan and stir fry the chunks of sweet potato, onion and garlic.
Add the paprika powder and turmeric powder with a couple of tablespoons of water and stir fry a few minutes. Then turn off heat.
When the bell peppers are roasted, let them cool off a little and then remove their skins. This should be easier now they’re roasted.
Keep 2 pieces of bell pepper behind for garnish and put the rest together with the roasted tomatoes in the cooking pan.
Add 1 liter of the water and bring to a boil. Let it cook over low heat for about 15-20 minutes until the chunks of sweet potato are soft.
Turn off heat, add salt to the pan and the remaining water and blend it with a stick blender.
Serve soup in bowls and garnish with stripes of the roasted bell pepper you kept behind.
