Roasted Tomato and Garlic Soup with Skillet Croutons
Sun-dried tomatoes and a whole head of fire-softened garlic, blended down into a soup thick enough to stand a spoon in.
- calories
- 520
- weight
- 5.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 95
- protein
- 13 g
- serves
- 2, scales
- prep
- 10 min
- cook
- 35 min
- total time
- 45 min
- water
- 700 ml boiled
- cost
- $
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Lunch
- Campfire coals
- Canister stove
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Canoe / raft
- Vegetarian
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Canned peeled tomatoes | 1 can (14 oz) | the one heavy item; worth it |
|---|---|---|
| Sun-dried tomatoes | 1/2 cup | stands in for the oven-roasted tomatoes |
| Head of garlic | 1 | whole, unpeeled |
| Dried onion flakes | 3 tbsp | |
| Vegetable bouillon | 2 cubes or 2 tsp powder | |
| Olive oil | 3 tbsp | in a dropper bottle |
| Dried oregano, thyme, and rosemary | 1 tsp total | no basil, it turns this into pasta sauce |
| Salt and pepper | to taste | salt last, the bouillon is already salty |
| Bread or bagels | 2 thick slices | stale is better than fresh |
| Butter | 1 tbsp | skip for a dairy-free pot |
| Hard cheddar | 1 oz | optional, rides separately |
| Chili flakes | a pinch | optional |
Method
- Wrap the whole garlic head in foil with a splash of oil and bury it at the edge of the coals, or set it on a low burner in a covered pot. Twenty minutes, turning once. It is done when the cloves squeeze out soft.
- While that goes, put the pot on the heat with a tablespoon of oil and the onion flakes plus 3 tbsp water. Cook two minutes until they plump and start to brown.
- Add the canned tomatoes with their juice, the sun-dried tomatoes, the bouillon, the dried herbs, and about 400 ml water. Simmer 15 minutes with the lid on so the sun-dried pieces rehydrate.
- Squeeze the roasted garlic cloves out of their skins into the pot. Mash everything hard against the side with a spoon until it is coarse and thick. Add water to reach the consistency you want.
- Taste, then salt. Pull the pot off the heat and set it somewhere warm.
- Wipe the pot or use the lid as a pan: melt the butter, tear the bread into chunks, and crisp them over the fire until browned on the outside. Pile them on the soup and grate the cheese over.
Real tomato soup gets its depth from roasting, which you cannot do on the trail. Sun-dried tomatoes are the shortcut: they are already concentrated and caramelized, and fifteen minutes in simmering broth brings them most of the way back. The canned tomatoes do the other half of the job, keeping the pot bright and acidic instead of flat and jammy. The whole head of garlic in the coals is the one step worth the wait, since roasting turns it sweet and mild enough to eat by the spoonful.
There is no blender out here, so the texture comes from mashing against the pot wall. It stays rustic. Croutons crisped in butter are not a garnish here, they are the calories and the reason the bowl counts as dinner. Salt at the end, because bouillon is salt with a tomato-colored opinion attached.
Packing
Sun-dried tomatoes, onion flakes, bouillon, and herbs go in one bag at home. The garlic head and the can ride loose. Bread goes on top of the pack or it arrives as crumbs, which still works.
Variations
- No bread? Stir in a handful of instant potato flakes to thicken it and eat it as is.
- Leave out the butter and cheese and the whole pot is vegan.
- A foil packet of white beans dumped in at step 4 adds protein and body.
https://daraeats.com/roasted-tomato-and-garlic-soup