Smokey Tomato Soup

I love making tomato soup. When basil is in season in my garden I use that to enhance the flavor. During the winter, store bought basil is often expensive and it’s not something I have on hand. I do often have flat leaf parsley and dill. I made this batch of tomato soup this past weekend with creativity and ingredients I keep regularly. My recent love affair with smoked paprika resulted in a rich soup that tasted like I added a lot of roasted red peppers (which I did not). I also added dried basil and red wine vinegar to my onion and garlic sauté. These wound up being excellent undertones. The final special ingredient were two cans of roasted garlic chopped tomatoes. I like the Hunt’s brand. These canned tomatoes have lots of extra flavor; they’ve been charred and have been hanging out with chopped garlic. As always, I roasted the fresh tomatoes to bring out their full flavor before adding them to the soup pot.

Ingredients:
14 ripe plum tomatoes
6 cups vegetable stock
1 Spanish onion diced
3 large cloves minced garlic
Two tsp dried basil
Two tbsp red wine vinegar
Two cans chopped roasted garlic tomatoes and their juice
1 1/4 tsp smoked paprika
1 cup each packed chopped dill and flat leaf parsley, reserving some for optional garnish
Olive oil
One large dried bay leaf

Turn oven to roast setting on 400. Halve the tomatoes length wise and place in a large pan in a single layer, seed side facing up. Drizzle well with olive oil. Sprinkle with kosher salt and pepper. Roast until the tomatoes start to turn dark brown around the edges. Black edges are ok. Heat a couple tbsp olive oil in a large soup pot. Sauté the diced onion on high until very fragrant and golden. When the pot begins to dry up add the red wine vinegar and mix well. Add the dried basil, smoked paprika and garlic and sauté two minutes more until the flavors blend; you’ll know it by the amazing aroma. I like to add the garlic towards the end since it burns easily. Add the stock, fresh roasted tomatoes, canned tomatoes with their juice, fresh herbs, 1 3/4 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper. I like to start with less of these and add more if needed. You can add but can’t remove! Mix well, add bay leaf. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, partially cover and simmer for 45 minutes. Stir occasionally. Blend with an immersion blender when done, first remove bay leaf. Adjust seasonings as needed garnish with some extra fresh chopped herbs if desired. This makes a lot so I just freeze to use as needed in the future.