Tomato basil soup

Thanks to lovely miss Maddie Humphreys, I get to share this awesome soup recipe with you guys! I've been obsessed with tomato soup ever since I tried Avenue Bread's Tomato Dill Soup in Bellingham, and I haven't been able to find a satisfactory recipe since then, till now. The recipe has a few modifcations, so I'll give you guys the link to the original recipe right here, and post Maddie's revised version below (that's the one I used and it was delicious and cheaper).

What you'll need:

8-10 ripened medium-sized tomatoes (I used 8 on the vine tomatoes), seeded and quartered
1 large red pepper cut into large chunks
2 15 oz cans of diced tomatoes in juice
4 cups vegetable broth
2 cups yellow onion (about 1 large onion), chopped
1 cup tightly packed, finely chopped fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes (one 3 oz. pack of julienne cut sun dried tomatoes were enough for me)
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh garlic (I used 6 large cloves)
1-2 tbsp apple cider vinegar (to taste, I used 1 tbsp)
2 tsp fresh thyme leaves (I forgot these and used dried, it still tasted delicious)
2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp crushed red chili pepper flakes
Fresh ground pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees.

2. Mix together the chopped pepper, quartered tomatoes, 1/4 cup olive oil, 1 tsp sea salt, and a few grinds of pepper. Roast this mix for about an hour, tossing around occasionally throughout the cooking time.

Here is my pan of goodies pre-roast!

3. In a large pot, saute onions, garlic, 2 tbsp olive oil, red pepper flakes, and 1 tbsp sea salt for about 10 minutes, until onions become soft and begin to brown.

4. Add canned tomatoes with juice, basil, thyme, and vegetable broth.

5. Add in your oven-roasted peppers and tomatoes with all the juice left in the pan, as well as the sun dried tomatoes.

6. Bring to a boil and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes.

7. Turn off heat and add the apple cider vinegar to taste.

At this point you won't be able to leave the kitchen because of the amazing smell!

8. Place wanted amount in the blender to dissolve chunks and have a more soup-like consistency, if you don't have a good amount of people over, you're likely to have lots of leftovers! If you serve with a nice loaf of bread warmed in the oven for a few minutes, it's great to dip!

Here is the consistency post-blend!

It does take awhile to make, so try to set it aside for a night you'll have the time and patience, but it is totally worth the flavor, the smells, and the leftovers. If you want to cut the time in half, Maddie suggests preparing all the chopped vegetables while the tomatoes and pepper are roasting! Great idea, I can't imagine how long it would've taken me if I hadn't taken that suggestion! Thanks girl!

Thanks so much to Maddie for the awesome recipe and the suggestions and revisions! I so enjoyed making this and it turned out delicious! Are you guys going to try this? Do you have any awesome recipes you'd be willing to share? xoxo