This Gordon Ramsay tomato soup comes from his 2013 cookbook, Ultimate Home Cooking, where he roasts the tomatoes and tops the soup with a sun-dried tomato pesto. The tomato soup ingredients are simple: tomatoes, red onions, garlic and cayenne roast in one pan, then simmer with stock and cream. It takes about 65 minutes and serves 4.
Cream of tomato soup is one of the most nostalgic childhood foods, he writes, and a few cheffy tricks make a homemade tomato soup even better. In his tomato soup video on YouTube, he admits he used to pretend to be ill as a boy to get a bowl of his mother’s tomato soup.
The first trick is the oven. The tomatoes roast there instead of stewing in a pot, which he says in the video makes a big difference in flavor. Their charred edges also give this roast tomato soup a smoky taste, he writes.
Gordon Ramsay’s Creamy Tomato Soup with Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto
Course: SoupsCuisine: BritishDifficulty: Easy4
20
minutes45
565
kcalA roasted Gordon Ramsay tomato soup, finished with a splash of cream and topped with a pounded pesto of sun-dried tomatoes, pine nuts and Parmesan.
Ingredients
- For the soup:
2 red onions, peeled and sliced
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely sliced
½ to 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper, to taste
olive oil, to drizzle
3â…“ pounds (1.5 kg) ripe tomatoes, cored and halved
1 teaspoon superfine sugar (caster sugar)
1 teaspoon aged balsamic vinegar
4¼ cups (1 liter) vegetable or chicken stock
scant ½ cup (100 ml) heavy cream (double cream)
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- For the sun-dried tomato pesto:
2 to 3 tablespoons pine nuts
2½ ounces (75 g) sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained with the oil saved, finely chopped
1¾ ounces (50 g) Parmesan, grated
olive oil
Directions
- Start: Heat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Set a large flameproof roasting pan, about 13 x 16 inches, on the stove over medium-high heat. Add the onions, garlic and cayenne, drizzle with enough oil to coat and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, until the onions start to soften.
- Caramelize: Add the tomatoes cut side down. Season with a pinch of salt, pepper and the sugar, then drizzle over the balsamic. Cook over high heat for 3 to 4 minutes, until they start to caramelize underneath, then stir well.
- Roast: Move the pan to the oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until the tomatoes are soft and charred at the edges.
- Pesto: Meanwhile, toast the pine nuts in a dry frying pan until golden. Pound the sun-dried tomatoes in a mortar with a pestle until completely broken down. Add a touch of salt and the pine nuts and pound to a pesto. Stir in the Parmesan, then about 3 to 4 tablespoons of olive oil and saved tomato oil, enough to make it spoonable.
- Simmer: Put the pan back on the stove over medium heat and pour in the stock. Bring to a boil and simmer for 4 to 5 minutes. Stir in the cream and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes more.
- Blend: Blend with an immersion blender until almost smooth, leaving a few chunky bits, or crush it with a potato masher for a more rustic soup. Tilt the pan as you blend, or tip it all into a pot first. Taste, season and serve warm with spoonfuls of pesto on top.
Notes
- He uses vine tomatoes in the video, and the riper they are, the better the soup. If yours aren't fully ripe, the sugar brings out their sweetness, as his book tip explains.
- Use ½ teaspoon of cayenne for gentle warmth or 1 teaspoon for more heat. In the video he says it adds heat that's gentler than hot chiles.
- If your roasting pan can't go on the stove, sear the tomatoes in batches in your largest skillet and roast them in a baking dish. Then scrape it all into a large pot, using a little stock to loosen the browned bits.
- Without a mortar and pestle, pulse the pesto in a mini food processor, though he prefers the mortar for the control it gives.
- For a vegetarian soup, use vegetable stock and a vegetarian hard cheese in the pesto, since Parmesan is usually made with animal rennet.
FAQs
How do I make his Welsh rarebit for tomato soup?
Tomato soup and Welsh rarebit is the hearty lunch he makes in the video, much like tomato soup and grilled cheese. For the rarebit from the same book, cook 3½ tablespoons (50 g) butter and 3 tablespoons flour for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring.
Slowly stir in ⅔ cup (150 ml) beer or strong ale, or stout as in the video, until thick. Off the heat, beat in 1 heaped teaspoon Dijon mustard, a dash of Worcestershire sauce and 5¼ ounces (150 g) sharp Cheddar, then let it cool.
Toast 4 large slices of rustic country bread on both sides and spread the cheese over them. Top with 1¾ ounces (50 g) more Cheddar and a few drops of Worcestershire, then broil until browned and bubbling.
How do I make it thicker or more rustic?
Use less stock. The book uses 4¼ cups (1 liter), but in the video he pours in just enough to sit halfway up the roasted tomatoes.
Then crush the soup with a potato masher instead of blending it, the rustic option he gives in the video. A stick blender gives a smoother soup and, he says, lifts the flavors stuck to the bottom of the pan.
Is this his tomato bisque?
No, his books have no tomato bisque, so this tomato soup with cream is the closest, and his tomato basil soup has no cream at all. In the US, a tomato soup blended with cream is often called tomato bisque, while a classic bisque is a rich shellfish soup, and his seafood bisque recipe is tomato-based.
Can I make it ahead?
Yes, it keeps for 3 days in the fridge, so reheat it gently and add the pesto just before serving. To freeze it, blend the soup before the cream goes in and freeze it for up to 3 months, then stir in the cream as it reheats.
Keep the pesto in a small jar in the fridge, covered with a thin layer of oil, for a few days.
Zaytouna Studio Team is the kitchen team behind Chef Ramsay Recipes. We cook Gordon Ramsay’s recipes from his cookbooks and videos in a home kitchen and write them up for yours, with US and metric measurements.