Some foods are just friends. They get along swimmingly and that's the end of that! Wait, better said, that's the beginning of something delicious. Lentils & tomatoes are friends. They know it, I know it, but do you know it?
Roasted Tomato Soup with Lentils
serves 4-6
1750 g vine tomatoes cut in half
140 g onions cut in half or quartered (depending on size)
1 bulb of garlic cut in half
2 bay leaves
2 large sprigs of rosemary
6 T olive oil
135 g jarred lentils (use more if desired)
1/4 t cumin powder
s&p
1-2 c water or stock (for thinning out)
1 c water for inside baking dish
1-2 c water to rinse out blender
2 T chopped cilantro
Guajillo chili paste (optional) link below
Place tomatoes, onions, garlic, bay leaves, rosemary and s&p in 2 baking dishes. Try to keep the cut sides of everything facing up. Drizzle the olive oil over the top evenly between the two baking dishes. Roast in a 200 C (390 F) oven for 1 hour. At the 50 min mark, add about 1 c of water to each baking dish.
After 10 more minutes, remove from the oven and discard the herbs on top. Using a blender carefully, because the ingredients will be hot once removed from the oven, purée in batches inside a blender using all the liquid in the bottom of the baking dishes that remains. Do not forget the lentils, onions and to squeeze out the garlic cloves. Blend it all until super smooth. If you like chunky, you can also make it chunky. If you do not have a blender, you can place all of the ingredients from the two baking dishes, plus lentils into a large soup pot and use a hand blender until satisfied with the consistency. Once puréed, add the cumin and cilantro. If you used a blender rinse it out with some water to get all of the tomato purée off of the sides and add to the soup pot. I used about 2 cups of liquid in the end on the blender and to thin out the soup to the consistency I prefer. If you did not use a blender, you can simply add stock or water till the consistency you prefer is obtained.
Season it well before serving. To add a punch of flavor, you can put a spoonful of guajillo chili paste into each soup bowl. It is a BIG flavor booster. I also love to serve a quesadilla with this soup. I start by spreading a good amount of the guajillo paste on one side of a tortilla before laying the cheese and a second tortilla atop. Bake in a pan on both sides until crispy and melted inside. The flavors go so well with the soup! Enjoy!