The secret to this tasty tomato carrot soup is the fact that all ingredients are fresh, roasted in the oven before being turned into a fantastic and comforting soup. Black peppercorns are a must for this soup as well as the delicious roasted garlic flavour. A slight of char on the vegetables is very much welcome and adds even more depth to the soup.
A pretty common accompaniment to this soup is a grilled cheese sandwich. I, however like this soup with any sourdough, rye or whole wheat bread slathered with butter. Even without any extras, this tomato carrot soup is pretty amazing.
This soup is simple to make and very comforting, kind of like groundnut soup or light soup. In the absence of fresh tomatoes, canned tomatoes actually make for a great substitute. If you have fresh tomatoes, however, and you can roast them to make the soup, you will definitely enjoy all the beautiful flavours that come together.
A side of crispy fried garden eggs is perfect with this tomato soup especially the contrasting textures of crispy and light with velvety and smooth. If you want a little bit of protein to go with this then shredding some grilled chicken is also a great addition.
Ingredients
This tomato soup is kept pretty simple, with the addition of some carrots, black peppercorns as well as garlic and onions. The natural sweetness from the carrots, are a lovely contrast the tartness of the tomatoes. If you are lucky to get tomatoes that are very ripe and tasty, then you will not need to depend on the carrots as much, however they still bring flavour to the soup.
Instructions
Cut all ingredients into large chunks and place them in a roasting pan with some sea salt (or table salt) and vegetable oil.
Roast in a pan until all vegetables are soft. The tomatoes will cook the fastest and the carrots will be the last to get soft. You do not have to roast them separately as they will eventually be turned into soup anyway.
Blend all the vegetables (remove the outer covering from the garlic or simply squeeze the cloves out) with a stick blender or regular blender. Add some chicken broth or stock to thin out the soup and also add flavour. Add some water eventually if it is still too thick for your liking. Add cracked black pepper, basil and some salt to taste, simmer for a bit and that is a yummy tomato carrot soup all done!
You can top your tomato soup with toasted sunflower seeds, croutons or some shredded cheese.
Substitutions
- Canned Tomatoes - Instead of using fresh tomatoes, you can use canned tomatoes. In this case however, roasting them in the oven might not be an option but your soup will still taste good.
- Vegetable Broth - Vegetable broth is a good substitute for chicken broth if you are vegetarian or vegan.
Variations
- Herbs - You can add your favourite herbs to your soup, it doesn't have to be basil.
- Butter - If you aren't roasting fresh tomatoes and you're using canned tomatoes, toss them in some butter over low heat before blending them for extra flavour.
- Vegetable Oil - If you are vegetarian or vegan and don't want to use butter (see above), vegetable oil is a good alternative.
- Chunky Tomatoes - If you want some tomato chunks in your soup, then leave a few tomatoes aside before blending all the other vegetables. Once blended add back the chunks of tomatoes into the soup. Chop them into smaller bits if they are too large.
Tip
This soup can be made in advance and also in bulk and then frozen. Simply thaw when you are ready to eat and heat in a pan or in the microwave. This is a great way to use tomatoes when they are in season and still get to enjoy them when they are out of season.
Tomato Carrot Soup Recipe
Ingredients
- 8 medium tomatoes
- 2 large carrots
- 3 small onions red
- 1 garlic bulb
- vegetable oil
- salt
- 300 ml chicken broth or stock approximately, adjust as necessary
- basil
- black pepper
Instructions
- Quarter the tomatoes, cut each carrot into 4 pieces, and halve the onions.
- Cut the head of a bulb of garlic and wrap it in some aluminium foil.
- Place all the vegetables into a roasting pan or any deep baking pan.
- Sprinkle salt and some vegetable oil on top and mix well.
- Roast in the oven at about 200°C for about 45 minutes or until the carrots are soft. Stir about once or twice in between.
- Place the roasted vegetables, except the garlic into a deep pot.
- Squeeze out 2 or 3 cloves of garlic into the pot as well as chicken broth.
- Using a stick blender or regular blender, blend until smooth. Add more chicken broth or water to thin out according to how thick you want it.
- Place pot over low heat and add basil, black pepper and additional salt if needed.
- Leave to simmer for 2 minutes.
- Serve warm.
Notes
- A bit of char or black on the vegetables after roasting is fine. This will add more flavour to your soup. What you do not want is burnt vegetables, as that will transfer to the soup. When in doubt, smell the vegetables.
- Depeding on how thick or thin you like your soup, you may use a combination of broth and water to thin out the soup.
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