Oven-Roasted Tomato-Coconut Soup

Did you know that I was in Swerve last week? A few people noticed, including Pierre, who shot me a compliment via Google Chat. Of course, I couldn't help but notice his soup recipe that was in the issue, especially given that B. had fallen in love with roasted tomatoes after we made them with our risotto. While I roasted mine in a fiery 450˚ oven for about an hour, Pierre takes a slower approach, roasting them at 300˚ for 2½ hours.


Yum.

Although the original recipe calls for heavy cream, Pierre slipped me an insider tip - the soup is also good with coconut milk, which is perfect, given that B. is lactose intolerant and especially sensitive to cream. Pierre also suggested adding a little bit of red curry paste, which sounded delicious (plus I had some on hand to boot), but B. had just come off a week straight of eating mapo tofu and needed a break from spicy food for a while.

The recipe is sooo easy (as with all things that take a long time) - it literally took me less than five minutes to slice the tomatoes in half and pop them in the oven. We then went to pick up B.'s new dining room chairs and did a bit of shopping before coming back to these juicy jewels.


While B. built the chairs, I set to work making the soup - you sauté some garlic, onion and red pepper in some olive oil until they begin to soften and brown (I'm thinking I might just roast everything next time), then let them simmer in a little bit of white wine before adding the tomatoes and a bit of tomato juice.


After simmering for a little bit, you then purée it. Pierre recommends a hand/immersion blender, but we didn't have one, so I did it in batches in the regular blender. I learned the hard way (aka burnt hands and tomato soup flying everywhere) that the "pulse" button turns the blades at a speed faster than "1", despite being careful not to fill the blender too full. Eventually I recovered and cleaned everything, blended the rest of the soup and added the coconut milk.


I served it with the rest of the wine, a whole grain baguette (nothing fancy, just from Superstore) and some cheese (a sharp cheddar and a brie) that B. already had in the fridge. A lovely way to celebrate our first dinner at the new kitchen table sitting on the new chairs! (Thanks, Pierre!)

Oven-Roasted Tomato-Coconut Soup
Adapted from KitchenScraps
Makes 6 servings

• 10 ripe tomatoes
  
• 2 tbsp (30 mL) olive oil
  
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled
  
• 1 medium onion, peeled and diced
  
• 1 medium red pepper, seeded and diced
  
• 1 cup (250 mL) white wine
  
• 2 cups (500 mL) tomato juice*
  
• 1 cup (250 mL) coconut milk
  
• Chopped chives (we had green onions) for garnish, optional

1. Preheat oven to 300˚F (150˚C). Slice tomatoes in half and place them on a baking sheet, cut side up (you may want to line the baking sheet with foil or parchment paper for easier cleanup later). Roast in oven for 2½ hours.
   
2. Turn off oven and allow them to cool and dry out completely in the oven for about an hour. If you are impatient like me, then you can cool them on the counter. If you'd like to store them and make the rest of the soup (or some other recipe) later, allow them too cool completely before transferring to an airtight container and storing them in the fridge.
   
3. In a medium saucepan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Sauté garlic, onion and red pepper until the vegetables have softened and begin to brown. Add in white wine and boil until the alcohol smell has evaporated (or is at least not so pungent.)
   
4. Add the tomatoes and tomato juice. Save one or two halves to dice up finely for garnish. (Note: even with a sharp knife this will be difficult and messy.)
   
5. Simmer the soup for 10 minutes, then using a hand blender/immersion blender, puree soup until it is smooth. Then blend for another two minutes until it is silky smooth. If you don't have a hand blender/immersion blender, do this in batches in your regular blender - remember, hot liquids expand! Always start at the lowest speed.
   
6. If using a regular blender, return the soup to the pot (if using a hand/immersion blender, it should be in there already). Stir in coconut milk and bring to a simmer.
   
7. Serve soup topped with diced tomato, chives, and a drizzle of leftover coconut milk. For a Thai twist, Pierre suggests going "all out" with red curry, rice noodles, cilantro, bean sprouts and toasted peanuts. Yum.

Nutrition Info (per serving): 211 calories, 12 g fat (8 g saturated), 0 mg cholesterol, 17 g carbohydrate (4 g fibre, 10 g sugar), 4 g protein, 236 mg sodium. An excellent source of vitamin C, folate, potassium and manganese. A good source of iron and magnesium.

 

*If sodium is a concern, try low-sodium vegetable juice (I couldn't find any low-sodium tomato juice), a blend of tomato juice and water, or simply water.