Roasted Garlic & Tomato Basil Soup
Roast the garlic heads with olive oil, salt, pepper, and Herbs de Provence in foil at 375° until the cloves are golden and soft. Cook the onion and carrots in butter until soft, sprinkle with flour, then stir in the broth, crushed tomatoes, and tomato paste. Add the sugar, roasted garlic, and basil, cool the soup, and blend it in batches. For the croutons, butter a hoagie roll around white cheddar, brush it with olive oil, sprinkle with Parmesan, cut it into 1-inch cubes, and bake at 350° until golden on all sides.
Most tomato soup tastes flat because it skips the step that matters most: building depth. This one earns its richness from three whole heads of roasted garlic, mellowed into sweet, jammy softness, folded into a velvety tomato bisque. Then it goes one better with grilled cheese croutons — the childhood pairing reimagined as a crunchy, molten garnish that floats right in the bowl. It's nostalgia, made genuinely sophisticated.
Roasting the Garlic
Roasted garlic is the soul of this soup, and it's nearly effortless. Cut the tops off three whole heads to expose the cloves, drizzle heavily with oil, salt, and Herbs de Provence, wrap in foil, and roast until the cloves are deeply golden, meltingly soft, and popping from their skins. The slow heat transforms garlic's sharp bite into something sweet, nutty, and jammy — squeezed straight into the pot, it dissolves into the tomato and gives the whole bowl its unmistakable depth.
Grilled Cheese Croutons
The garnish is the joy of it. Split a crusty roll, pack it with shredded white cheddar, press it closed, brush the outside with oil, dust it with Parmesan, cut it into thick, one-inch cubes, and toast them until golden and crisp. Floated on the hot, velvety soup, they deliver the exact pleasure of dunking a grilled cheese, in a single tidy bite. It's the detail that turns a good bowl of soup into a memorable one.
Roasted Garlic & Tomato Basil Soup
Ingredients
Method
- Preheat the oven to 375°.
- Cut off the top third of each head of garlic and discard.
- Place the heads onto a sheet of aluminum foil. Drizzle the cut side with olive oil, salt, pepper and Herbs de Provence.
- Fold up the foil around the garlic, leaving a small hole at the top.
- Place into the oven and roast until the cloves are golden, soft and popping out of their skins, about 30 to 40 minutes.
- Melt the butter over medium heat in a large soup pot.
- Stir in the onion and carrots and cook until soft, about 5 minutes.
- Sprinkle the veggies with flour and cook for several minutes more.
- Stir in the broth, crushed tomatoes and the tomato paste. Cook until the mixture is smooth, about 3 minutes.
- Stir in the sugar and season with salt and pepper.
- Add the roasted garlic and basil and cook for 1 minute more.
- Cool the soup. Transfer the soup in batches to a food processor or blender and pulse to emulsify.
- Pour the soup back into the pot over medium heat. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Simmer over low heat.
- Preheat the oven to 350°. Slice the hoagie roll in half horizontally. Spread the butter over the cut sides.
- Lay the cheese on top of one butter-slathered slice of the roll. Place the other half on top of the cheese. Smush the roll down so that the cheese sticks to the butter inside.
- Brush the top, sides and bottom of the roll with olive oil. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Slice into 1-inch cubes.
- Bake until golden on all sides, turning every so often, about 3 to 5 minutes total.
- Pour the soup into an insulated beverage container. Pack the croutons into an airtight container. Serve the soup with a garnish of extra basil leaves and top with 1 to 2 croutons.
The Heart of the Table
Tomato soup and grilled cheese is one of the most comforting pairings we know — the taste of being looked after on a cold, gray day. To take that memory and elevate it, without losing an ounce of its warmth, is a lovely act of hospitality: familiar enough to soothe, refined enough to feel like a gift, the sort of bowl that makes a guest feel both impressed and completely at home.
The Art of the Host
A heavy soup pot or Dutch oven builds the bisque, and a blender — upright or immersion — brings it to that velvety smoothness. The croutons need only a sheet pan and a hot oven. Roast the garlic ahead if you like; it keeps well and makes the soup come together fast. If blending hot soup upright, work in batches and vent the lid for safety.
Neighborly Grace
- The Preparation: Roast three whole heads of garlic until sweet and jammy and blend them into the tomato bisque for a depth a plain version never reaches. It reheats beautifully, so make it ahead and float grilled-cheese croutons on top to serve.
- The Pour: A crisp white or a light Chianti suits the tomato and roasted garlic. For a non-alcoholic option, a sparkling tomato-basil sipper or a lemon water keeps it bright.
- The Vibe: This is deeply comforting with a mellow, roasted heart — ladle it warm into bowls with a grilled-cheese crouton on top and let its garlicky depth do the rest.