Slow Roasted Tomato Soup

Today Baking Bad is hosting a virtual fall feast. I'm so excited to be participating! My contribution is slow roasted tomato soup. Head over to Baking Bad to see the other delicious contributions.

I've never cared for tomato soup. I made this one day for my husband, a big tomato soup fan. When it was finished I reluctantly took a taste. Just to see. Wow, it tasted better than I thought...I took another taste...I ate two bowl fulls. Delicious.

But this is more than just a tasty soup. It's very easy and uses basic pantry ingredients. It can be vegetarian/vegan (use veggie broth instead of chicken broth). It can even be low fat (omit the cream).

And as delicious as this is on its own, you would not believe how amazing it is with a grilled brie sandwich on a chilly day.

Slow Roasted Tomato Soup
From In Jennie's Kitchen

2 28-oz. cans of whole peeled tomatoes
Olive oil
2 TB dark brown sugar
salt and fresh ground pepper
3 cups reserved tomato liquid (add water if needed to make 3 cups)
2 cups chicken (or vegetable) broth
1/2 cup cream (or half and half)

Line a large, rimmed baking sheet with foil.

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.

Place a sieve over a large glass measuring cup and drain the tomatoes, reserving the liquid.

Slice the tomatoes in half and place cut-side up on the baking sheet. The tomatoes will lose a lot of juice as they are sliced, so slice over the sieve to collect more juice.

Drizzle the tomatoes with olive oil.

Sprinkle tomatoes with brown sugar, salt and pepper.

Roast in a preheated 300 degree oven for 1 hour.

Remove from the oven and cool for 10 minutes.

Transfer the cooled tomatoes to a blender and add the 3 cups of reserved tomato juice. Blend until smooth.

Pour blended liquid into a large pot. Add broth and heat until warmed through.

Remove from heat and stir in cream.

Serve hot!

Spice recommendations: Tellicherry Indian Black Peppercorns and Chicken or Veggie Soup Base (1 tsp soup base per 1 cup of water).

Click to print recipe

Pumpkin Spice Cream Cheese

Happy Halloween!

This is one of my favorite new fall recipes. I starred this recipe from Baking Bad almost a month ago and couldn't wait to make it. I halved the original recipe and it made the perfect amount for me to snack on for a couple of days. It was good on a bagel of course, but it was fabulous on graham crackers.

I ran out before I could try this, but I think it would make a fantastic stuffing for stuffed french toast.

Spiced Pumpkin Cream Cheese

4 oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup pumpkin puree, homemade or canned
2 TB brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
dash allspice
dash ground cloves
1/4 tsp vanilla

Mix all ingredients until well blended.

Refrigerate in an airtight container until you are ready to serve.

Baked Pumpkin Spice Donut Holes

I've been working my way through my ever-growing list of pumpkin recipes with little success. My pumpkin snickerdoodles were a flop, and while I loved the pumpkin spice cream cheese, no one else in my family cared for it.

But I came up with a win with these donut holes. My girls loved them, and I was very pleased with the end result. They were quick and easy, they tasted great and had the perfect texture. They were a great afternoon snack with mug of cocoa.

Pumpkin Spice Donut Holes
From Two Peas and Their Pod

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp allspice
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/3 cup canola oil
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup canned plain pumpkin
1/2 cup milk

Preheat oven 350°F.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves.

In a large bowl whisk together oil, brown sugar, egg, vanilla, pumpkin and milk until smooth.

Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix until just combined.

Fill greased mini muffin tins with batter.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.

While the muffins bake, melt 1/4 cup of butter in a bowl, and combine 1/2 cup granulated sugar and 1 TB cinnamon in another bowl.

After muffins have cooled for about 2 minutes, dip each muffin in melted butter, then roll in cinnamon sugar to coat.

Makes approximately 2 1/2 dozen donut holes.

Click to print recipe