Tomato Soup for Chloe

My girl loves tomato soup in her lunch box. Last year we purchased her soup at $3.99 a carton. I was happy with the ingredients, but didn't really want her soup coming from a carton. This year the tomatoes are just too beautiful to ignore, and they are everywhere. I took a stab at making some homemade soup. I will be honest that I really thought she would protest, but from the beginning she was excited about the process. We started with 5 lovely tomatoes.

My sous chef, Patrick cored the tomatoes and removed most of the seeds. You can save the juice that comes out during this process and add it back in later. In a baking pan we put the quartered tomatoes covered with 2Tb olive oil and sea salt in a 375 degree oven for about 45 min. The skins will pucker and you can remove them after they cool. In another baking pan we put 2 chopped carrots, 1 small red onion sliced, 2 garlic cloves and 1Tb olive oil to coat with more sea salt. This was roasted at the same time, keep an eye on it, it may be done faster.

After we removed the skin everything went into the blender until smooth. In a sturdy pot add in the tomato mixture and 3 cups of chicken stock. You may need to add more salt. At this point when the soup warms you can add in 1 cup of coconut milk to bring it to that creamy place we all so love. When I am freezing this I add the tomato mixture and stock only to the jars, and add coconut milk later when we re-heat in the mornings before school. I always have coconut milk in the fridge in a glass jar as I use it for cream in my tea or decaf.

This soup passed the Chloe test, she ate 4 small bowls of it as we were playing around with how much coconut milk and salt to add. So tomato soup making I shall be for the next few days, filling the freezer up next to all my jars of pesto! This soup does not have herbs added to it, my chicken stock is rich in herb flavors and I wanted to keep it simple for the kids, but adding in any herbs during roasting or fresh herbs to the soup pot would be lovely.

Creamy Tomato Lunch Box Soup

3 1/2 pounds tomatoes, about 5 large

2 carrots- roughly chopped

1 small red onion- sliced into rounds

2 garlic cloves

3 Tb olive oil

sea salt

pepper

3 cups chicken stock

1/2- 1 cup coconut milk

basil or pesto (optional)

Core, quarter and remove seeds (you can save the juice that comes out during this process and add it into the blender later) tomatoes and lay in a baking pan. Cover with 2Tb olive oil and a sprinkling of sea salt and pepper. In another baking sheet add carrot, onion and garlic cloves, cover with remaining olive oil and a bit more salt and pepper. Roast in a 375 degree oven for about 45 minutes, keep an eye on this, the carrots may need to come out sooner. When the tomatoes cool, remove skin and add into blender with carrot mixture. Blend until smooth. Add to a pot with chicken stock, once warmed add in coconut milk to taste. This would be lovely with some fresh basil or pesto as a garnish.