Saving them for later

 

It's that time of year: when tomatoes seem to multiply. Or, if you're a Garrison Keillor fan, Tomato Butt season. And while I love fresh tomatoes, I can only eat so many BLTs and caprese salads and almost always let some spoil. But this year I've developed a strategy for using excess charity tomatoes, one that I think will make us happy when winter rolls around: roasted tomato-basil soup that's going in my freezer for a cold day. Seeing whereas I have a Vitamix blender and a basil plant that's been growing on my screen porch, this was super easy to make. And I do love me an easy recipe. Here's how I made the soup:

SEPTEMBER TOMATO-BASIL SOUP

4 lbs. tomatoes, halved horizontally and seeds squeezed out

4-5 T. olive oil
Garlic powder, salt, and black pepper

4 cups water
2 T. minced fresh basil
2 T. sugar

Place tomato halves cut side down on a rimmed baking sheet and pour olive oil over. Season generously with garlic powder, salt, and pepper (or use whole garlic cloves for extra roasty flavor; I just didn't happen to have any on hand). Bake at 400 for about 30 minutes or until tomatoes are mushy and browning on the edges.

Put roasted tomatoes in a stock pot with water and basil. Season with salt and pepper and let simmer over medium heat about 20-30 minutes. Allow to cool to room temperature before pulsing in a blender with 2 T. sugar. Serve warm or transfer to plastic bags to freeze.

 

Here's to soup season being maybe, just maybe, right around the corner.