Roasted Garlic Tomato Soup

I have an unusual week coming up this week at work.  I’m going out to lunch on Monday, which is really rare these days, and then have a full day in the office on Tuesday and then will be out the rest of the week.  I really only need lunch for one day, so I’m going to break into my stash of already frozen lunches I prepped over the break.

One of my absolute favorite foods is tomato soup.  I have super fond memories of growing up in Colorado and eating Campbell’s tomato soup in the winter.  I also recall adding celery to canned tomato soup and canned potato soup both.  This soup is a definite riff on that memory, but with by far better ingredients.  I had some roasted garlic that needed to be used up, along with the many cans of diced tomatoes I put up in the summer.  The combination of tomato, garlic, and celery tastes like sunshine to me.

This soup freezes beautifully and heats up quickly in the microwave.  I’ll serve it to myself with a spinach salad and some candied hazelnuts, I think.

Roasted Garlic Tomato Soup

Serves 2 (in bowls – could serve 4 as cups of soup on the side of a robust salad or a sandwich)

2 tablespoons olive oil
3 stalks of celery, chopped
1 head of roasted garlic
2 cans of diced tomatoes (or 1 28 ounce can)
1 teaspoon salt
A few grinds of pepper
¼ cup heavy cream

Sauté the chopped celery for a few minutes in the olive oil. Add the roasted garlic and push it around so that it starts to form a paste. Add the tomatoes, salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and simmer for 20 – 30 minutes to let the flavors develop. At this point, you can cool the soup down and blend in a blender or pull the soup off the heat and use an immersion blender to break up the tomatoes and celery. I don’t mind a few chunks of celery in my soup, so left it a little chunky. Add the heavy cream. At this point, the soup can either be reheated by simmering gently for a few minutes or portioned out and frozen.