Creamy Tomato Basil Soup with Roasted Garlic and Asiago Cheese

Published June 14, 2013. Updated August 21, 2019

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At least once this summer, buy plenty of plum tomatoes at the farmers market or save some from your garden and make this soup! This is one of the best things I’ve made with fresh tomatoes. Yes you have to boil and peel the tomatoes and roast the garlic in the oven both of which are a few annoying extra steps, but the few extra steps make this soup what it is.

Creamy Tomato Basil Soup with Roasted Garlic and Asiago Cheese | Cooking Classy

I made this because I was going to visit my brother and he loves tomato basil soup, so I packed some along. We had it for lunch and he completely approved (success :). He loves the tomato soup at Panera Bread and Zuppas, which means I was up against a few competitors, so I’m really excited it turned out.

I decided to add in my favorite things that go with tomatoes and basil; first roasted garlic (because I could eat it plain all on it’s own. Yes I’ll admit, sometimes I will roast garlic just to eat it plain on it’s own, mmm the flavor is incredible.

creamy tomato basil soup with roasted garlic and asiago cheese | Cooking Classy

But don’t worry, even though it’s one and a half heads of garlic it really is quite mellow. It just adds a delicious garlicky sweetness), then I also added in Asiago because seriously, what would we do without cheese? Nearly everything is better with a generous sprinkling of some sort of cheese.

And in this case Asiago was just the first pairing that came to mind both for flavor and it’s smooth yet stringy melting characteristics.

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Creamy Tomato Basil Soup with Roasted Garlic and Asiago Cheese

Rich and creamy tomato soup with fresh basil, bits of roasted garlic and flavorful asiago cheese. 
Servings: 6
Prep20 minutes
Cook1 hour 30 minutes
Ready in: 1 hour 50 minutes

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Meanwhile cut top from garlic heads (just enough to expose the cloves), leave skin on and place on a baking dish (I just used an oven safe glass bowl) and drizzle 1 1/2 tsp of olive oil over garlic.
  • Cover dish with foil and bake garlic in preheated oven until soft and lightly browned, about 35 - 40 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside.
  • Once water reaches a boil, carefully place tomatoes in boiling water and allow to boil just until their skins burst, about 3 minutes.
  • Meanwhile fill a large mixing bowl with ice water. Once tomatoes have burst immediately transfer to ice bath and allow to cool about 30 seconds (or until they are cold enough for you to handle). Peel and dice tomatoes.
  • Heat remaining 3 Tbsp olive oil in a large enameled pot over medium-high heat. Once oil is hot, add diced onion and saute until soft, about 6 minutes. Add in diced tomatoes and their juices, crushed tomatoes, chicken broth, salt, pepper, sugar, red pepper flakes and basil. 
  • Peel and mince roasted garlic then add to soup. Bring mixture just to a boil, then reduce heat and allow to simmer uncovered for 45 minutes - 1 hour (you can simmer it up to an hour longer over low heat, just cover with lid after 1st hour). 
  • Puree soup with an immersion blender if desired (if you like it slightly chunky no pureeing is necessary) or process in batches in a blender, filling blender only halfway each time and removing cap in lid and covering with a dish towel (to allow heat to escape and prevent the blender from bursting).
  • Stir in heavy cream. Serve warm with fresh croutons, shredded Asiago cheese and sprinkle top with fresh basil.
Nutrition Facts
Creamy Tomato Basil Soup with Roasted Garlic and Asiago Cheese
Amount Per Serving
Calories 328 Calories from Fat 189
% Daily Value*
Fat 21g32%
Saturated Fat 9g56%
Cholesterol 40mg13%
Sodium 1248mg54%
Potassium 1041mg30%
Carbohydrates 26g9%
Fiber 6g25%
Sugar 15g17%
Protein 10g20%
Vitamin A 2708IU54%
Vitamin C 47mg57%
Calcium 326mg33%
Iron 3mg17%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Nutrition values are estimates only. See full disclaimer here.

If you don’t want the “Creamy” just leave out the heavy cream for a delicious tomato basil soup (this is what it looks like before adding cream. And I know, I desperately need to bleach my pot again :)…

Tomato Basil Soup

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54 Comments

  • Craig

    I made this soup last night and it was really good! I have tried several other recipes and this was by far the best yet. I added an additional tbs. of sugar and used low fat half & half in place of the heavy cream. My wife liked it so I know it was good! Thank you!

    • Jaclyn

      Jaclyn Bell

      I’m so happy to hear you and your wife liked it Craig – and that it outdid other recipes you’ve tried! Thanks for your comment and the tips on adjustments!

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  • ms

    I wonder about boiling the soup for an hour. It is finally tomatoes. Wont the nutrition die?

    If we saute the onions a bit and then the blached tomatoes… won’t that be enough?

    • Jaclyn

      Jaclyn Bell

      I don’t know much about when nutrition is cooked off but I suppose you could do it that way. I cooked it that long to allow the tomatoes to break down and sweeten as well as allowing the soup a chance to thicken and allowing the flavors to meld together.

    • Kris

      Nutrition is destroyed by heat, not length of heating. Once any live food is heated past 118 degrees much of the vitamins and nutrients are destroyed. :)

  • Ivan

    Hi Jaclyn, this is such an great recipe! I love good soups! I will share it on Asiago Cheese’s USA Facebook and Twitter accounts. Glad you love Italian cuisine! Ivan

  • Rachel @ Bakerita

    Such a good way to highlight the amazing CA tomatoes right now. Delicious!!

  • angela @ another bite please

    this soup looks perfect…i love a good tomato soup…then with roasted garlic and basil…even better. I will make sure to make when our tomatoes finally start growing!