Meatless Monday: Grilled Tomato Basil Soup

Ingredients:

12 Vine Ripened Tomatoes
2 tablespoons Olive Oil
2 garlic gloves, peeled and smashed
3 cups Vegetable Stock
1 cup Tomato juice (I used V8 Juice. Next time I’ll use Spicy V8 for a little more kick.)
Pinch of Chili Flakes
Pinch of sugar
Salt (Kosher or Sea)
2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, grated
1 tablespoons Oregano
1 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olice Oil
3 sprigs of Fresh Basil leaves, coarsely chopped

Preparation:

Pre-heat your grill.

Brush tomatoes with a slight coating of olive oil and grill them for 15 to 20 minutes or until the skin scorches and begins to peel. Place tomatoes in a plastic bag and set aside to cool.

Peel and roughly chop 8 of the tomatoes. Save all the juices and discard the peels. Place the flesh and juice of the peeled tomatoes in a sauce pan with the remaining olive oil, garlic, vegetable stock, tomato juice, chili flakes, sugar, salt.

Simmer for 15 minutes. Season with pepper and additional salt to taste. Remove the garlic.

Place the four saved tomatoes in four warm bowls and ladle the soup over the top. Garnish with a bit of parmesan cheese, oregano leaves and the fresh chopped basil. Drizzle the soup with the extra virgin olive oil.