I make this Roasted Tomato Basil Soup every fall with the tomatoes that we harvest in late summer and early fall. Roasting the tomatoes, as well as the onions and garlic, intensifies the flavours and brings out their sweetness. It's the beginning of soup season, which I love.

It's harvest time, and that means we have an abundance of beautiful food to deal with all at once. What better way than soup. As the days get cooler, soup is a welcome meal. And it's so easy to portion up and freeze. This is a rustic soup, so don't worry if there are some blackened bits after roasting your tomatoes, onions, and garlic. Those will just make this roasted tomato basil soup taste even better!

A Fresh Herb Buying Hint

I have basil tucked into every corner of the garden and it is loving the cooler fall weather here. So three cups of basil is easy for me. If you don't have a garden though, here's a hack. Our local grocery store sells little basil (and other herbs) plants growing in pots for $1.99. This is less expensive and fresher than the bunches of fresh basil which usually look a little faded. In the winter I buy those. As a bonus, sometimes the plant even keeps growing in my kitchen if I leave a few leaves on.

Canned Tomatoes Can Be Roasted, Too

For this tomato basil soup, I used whatever tomatoes that were in my garden to harvest. So I had mostly Italian plum tomatoes, but I also threw in some golden cherry tomatoes, and a giant heirloom one, plus the late-ripening, "early girl" ones. So in other words, use whatever tomatoes you have, and you can even make this super flavourful roasted tomato basil soup in the dead of winter by roasting canned tomatoes.

Want some more delicious, easy homemade soup ideas? If so, give these ones a try: Split Pea Soup; Mushroom Barley Soup, or Sweet Potato Soup with Black Beans & Corn.

This recipe is adapted from Ina Garten, one of my favourite celebrity chefs.

Recipe