Roasted Tomato and Pumpkin Soup with Homemade Croutons
Perfect for fall... cozy, comforting soup filled with roasted veggies and pumpkin, finished off with heavy cream.
Ingredients
Soup:
- 1 onion, sliced into wedges
- 2 celery ribs, chopped
- 2 medium carrots, chopped, or cut into half moons if very thick
- 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, or olive oil, divided
- kosher salt, to taste
- freshly-cracked black pepper, or ground white pepper, to taste
- 2 pounds Roma tomatoes, quartered, see Notes
- 1 pound cherry tomatoes, or cocktail tomatoes
- 2 garlic cloves, finely minced or grated on a zester/Microplane, or pushed through a garlic press
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon smoked paprika, sweet or hot, or to taste
- 3 - 4 cups unsalted or low-sodium vegetable stock, or chicken stock
- 1 1/4 cups pumpkin purée, NOT pie mix
- 1/2 - 3/4 cup heavy cream, to taste
- 1 - 2 tablespoons sun-dried tomato-infused oil, optional
- Croutons, for serving, optional, recipe below
Croutons:
- 12 ounces (about 4 cups) French or Italian loaf (a day or 2 old(, cut into 3/4" - 1" cubes
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon roasted garlic powder, or garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika, not smoked
- 2 - 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Instructions
Soup:
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper for easy cleanup.
- Scatter the onion, celery, and carrots on the baking sheet. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons of the oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper, to taste. Toss the veggies to coat them in the oil and seasonings.
- Bake in the oven for 15 minutes, or until there is some caramelization on the veggies. Remove the pan from the oven and scatter the tomatoes (Roma and cherry) on the pan. Add 1 tablespoon of oil and season the tomatoes with salt and pepper. Bake for another 30 to 40 minutes or until some caramelization is on the tomatoes and the carrots are very tender.
- Remove from the oven to cool. (Puréeing hot vegetables in a blender can be dangerous. Allow them to cool while you continue the recipe.)
- In a Dutch oven or stockpot, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil over medium-low heat. Once hot, add the garlic and stir constantly for about 20 seconds, being careful not to burn the garlic.
- Add the tomato paste and paprika. Stir and cook for about 1 minute. Turn off the heat while you blend the tomatoes.
- Scrape the cooled vegetables into a blender. Add 1 cup of the stock. Purée the mixture until smooth and flowing well in the blender. (Or you may use an immersion blender after the extra stock and pumpkin purée has been added to the Dutch oven.)
- Pour all the puréed veggies into the Dutch oven. Add the remaining 2 to 3 cups of stock (depending on desired consistency) and the pumpkin purée. Stir thoroughly and heat through. Taste and adjust seasonings as desired. Turn off the heat and allow the flavors to marry.
- Add ½ cup of the heavy cream and gently stir, heating through. Do not boil.
- You may add more heavy cream if more richness is desired. You may add more stock for a thinner consistency. As always, adjust seasonings as needed.
Croutons:
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. If desired, line the baking sheet with foil or parchment paper for easy clean up; no need to spray with non-stick products like Pam.
- Place all seasonings in a small bowl and combine well.
- Place the cubed bread into a large bowl and sprinkle half of the herbs over and toss. Add the remaining half of the herbs and toss again.
- Drizzle a couple of tablespoons of the oil evenly over the bread cubes. Toss well, trying to disperse the ingredients as well as possible. Drizzle a couple more tablespoons of oil over the bread and toss again. Drizzle the last of the oil and toss once more. Taste for seasoning, especially salt, and add more if desired.
- Pour the bread cubes onto the baking sheet and space evenly.
- (If you are using a dense loaf, you may need more baking time versus a lighter Italian loaf. Also, larger cubes will take slightly longer baking time.)
- Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven, using a spatula, gently toss the croutons. Place the pan back into the oven for another 7-10 minutes, depending on the heat of your oven.
- Remove one crouton from the pan, allow it to cool and taste. I like mine just ever so slightly soft in the center; mine were perfect at 20 minutes. If you prefer more browning and crispiness on the inside, bake for another 4 to 5 minutes and check again.
- Allow to completely cool on the baking sheet, then store in an airtight container. Store the croutons for up to a week.
Notes
Want some extra heat? Add a seeded and sliced, raw, hot chile, such as a jalapeno or serrano to the baking sheet when you add the tomatoes. Or, my favorite: rehydrate dried chilies, purée them in a blender with enough liquid to get them flowing in the carafe, and add to the soup along with the pumpkin purée. Heat, smoke, and a lot of flavor!
You may remove tomato seeds by hand after quartering them, before roasting. The soup will be puréed, so seeds will be minute.
The nutrition chart is only a guesstimate and a courtesy to you. If you need more accurate amounts, please, calculate for yourself. This chart was calculated with 3 ½ teaspoons of kosher salt on the Samsung Recipe Nutrition Calculator. The chart is for the soup only (no optional olive oil or croutons).
Croutons were made with multigrain bread.
Adding “warm” spices such as coriander, cumin, cinnamon and/or allspice (just to name a few) will drastically change the flavor of the soup, but will be very delicious!
Nutrition Facts
Roasted Tomato and Pumpkin Soup with Homemade Croutons
Amount per Serving
Calories
184.52
% Daily Value*
Fat
13.25
g
20
%
Saturated Fat
4.47
g
28
%
Trans Fat
0.18
g
Polyunsaturated Fat
1.13
g
Monounsaturated Fat
6.59
g
Cholesterol
16.81
mg
6
%
Sodium
651.95
mg
28
%
Potassium
543.33
mg
16
%
Carbohydrates
16.37
g
5
%
Fiber
4.27
g
18
%
Sugar
6.57
g
7
%
Protein
2.66
g
5
%
Vitamin A
833.93
IU
17
%
Vitamin C
29.78
mg
36
%
Calcium
55.53
mg
6
%
Iron
1.29
mg
7
%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
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