With the arrival of cooler weather, soups are definitely back on my go-to list of meals. I love soup, because I can have All The Flavors without all the damn calories. When it comes to soups and stews, a little goes a long way. Roast veggie soup is one of those “make it with what you have” recipes. There’s no one right way to make it, and pretty much anything you put in will make it yummy! This is my version of Roast Vegetable Soup.
Ingredients:
- 1 sweet potato, peeled and cubed
- peppers (mix of whatever colors/heats you like), large diced
- 1 large carrot, peeled and coined
- 1 red onion, large diced
- 2 large or several smaller tomatoes, whole
- 1 head garlic, most of the paper peeled away and the top cut off
- 1 to 2 cups of any combination of the following: cauliflower, kale, leeks, red skinned potato, celery, parsnips, turnip, chard, or whatever else you like
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/2 tsp to 2 tsp each: cumin, thyme, oregano, paprika, marjoram, and rubbed sage
- 4 to 6 cups vegetable, chicken, or beef stock
- 1 can white beans, well rinsed
Preheat your oven to 400°F. Cover a large baking tray (lipped) with some parchment paper, then add in the potato, peppers, carrot, tomatoes, garlic, and other vegetables. Drizzle it all with olive oil, and sprinkle the vegetables with the spices. Toss it all together using your hands. Roast in the oven for 10 minutes, then flip all the vegetables over and roast for another 10 minutes. Add in any onions and/or leeks, stir well to cover them with the oil and spices, and continue to roast for a further 10 to 15 minutes, until the vegetables are tender and slightly caramelized. Remove them from the oven.
Set aside a small selection of the vegetables to add whole to the soup. Remove the tomato skins (they should simply slip off) and squeeze the garlic out of its skin. Add the tomatoes, garlic, and any vegetables you don’t want whole to a large soup pot and add in the stock. Bring the soup to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for about five minutes. Turn off the heat, and blend the soup with an immersion blender. If you don’t have one, you can add it a bit at a time to a regular blender or food processor, but be careful because it will be hot.
Add in the reserved vegetables and the white beans, and bring to a simmer for 15 minutes to a half hour, to allow the flavors to meld. If you like dairy items, adding in a few pieces of parmesan rind at this point will make this a much more earthy, rich soup.
Serve in warm bowls topped with a drizzle of good olive oil, a drizzle of balsamic vinegar, and a sprig of fresh thyme or some croutons.