A new fall classic: roasted no-cream of tomato soup
Familiar but different, this soup tastes like the cream of tomato soup you remember eating as a kid, but without the can.
And without any added milk or cream, it’s freezer friendly and made for meal prep.
Unlike the canned version, the addition of cannellini beans gives you a boost of protein and fibre that will keep you feeling full and satisfied, without the blood sugar bounce.
Cooking tomatoes removes the water from them, concentrating both their flavours and some nutrients.
Roasting tomatoes in a bit of olive oil before blending them into a soup brings out their rich flavour and boosts their lycopene content. The fat from the olive oil makes the lycopene, which is a fat-soluble nutrient, easier for your body to absorb and use.
Lycopene is a nutrient with anti-oxidant properties, found in foods like tomatoes, pink grapefruit, pink guava, watermelon, goji-berries (also from the tomato family) and asparagus. It is believed to help with reducing cancer risks and impacts (especially prostate, lung, breast and kidney), improve cardiovascular health and reduce the risk of stroke.
Lycopene can also be protective against UV damage from the sun, however DON’T use it in place of sunscreen if you are being exposed during peak times.
Cannellini beans, also known as white kidney beans, along with the white potato, help to give this soup its creamy texture, with the benefits of added fibre. This is a bonus as many of us struggle with getting the recommended 25g or so of fibre into our diet every day.
A can of beans blended into your soup is a simple way to help meet daily fibre recommendations, plus they’ll help to stabilize blood sugar and support digestive health.
Cannellini beans also contain ferulic acid which, like the lycopene, can help to protect your skin against UV damage.
No dairy means this soup is freezer friendly and makes a great meal prep option. Make a double batch to stash some away for another day.
For other ways to make creamy soups without dairy check out this post
Let’s make this:
INGREDIENTS:
9-10 plum tomatoes, halved
4-6 cloves of garlic, peeled
1/3 - 1/2 C olive oil
3-4 fresh thyme sprigs
1 large onion, white or spanish, sliced
1 large white potato, peeled and cubed
1 can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
4 C vegetable or chicken stock
2 bay leaves
1/2 C chopped fresh basil leaves for garnish (optional)
salt & freshly ground pepper, to taste
THIS IS HOW:
Preheat oven to 425º
Place halved tomatoes, peeled garlic, onion slices and thyme sprigs on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
Pour over olive oil and using your hands, mix well to ensure everything is coated.
Roast tomatoes, onion and garlic for 20 -30 minutes until soft and jammy.
Transfer roasted veggies to a large stockpot.
Add cubed potato, cannellini beans and vegetable stock, along bay leaves, salt and pepper.
Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes or until potato is soft.
Remove from heat and take out the bay leaves.
Either puree the soup in the pot with an immersion blender, or transfer to a blender in batches and carefully process until smooth (vent the lid to avoid liquid exploding out of the top of the blender)
Season again with salt and pepper, if needed.
Transfer blended soup back to pot and rewarm. Serve and garnish with chopped basil.
