Recipes, Vegetarian

Roasted Garlic Tomato Bisque

Inspiration for this recipe comes from my childhood. During winters when my mother would make this for me and my cousins, it would immediately bring us together regardless of the fights we’d have. Made with roasted garlic, this creamy and blended to silky perfection soup has always been a hit. While it sounds and tastes gourmet, this recipe couldn’t get any easier. Serve it as an appetizer or main course. No matter how it hits the table, it’ll be greatly appreciated. The word ‘bisque’ may have you thinking of seafood and for a legitimate reason. Not in this case though. Tomato bisque uses ingredients that are very reminiscent of the cream and tomato soup.

Ingredients

  • 4 Ripe Tomatoes
  • 1/2 Beetroot
  • 1 White Onion
  • Garlic Cloves
  • 1 Cup Onion Greens
  • 1 Tbsp Fresh Cream (Amul)
  • 2 Tbsp Olive Oil (Extra Virgin)
  • 1 Cup Vegetable Broth (homemade)
  • 2 Bay leaves
  • Kosher Salt (as per taste)
  • Fresh Ground Pepper (as per taste)

Preparation

Prep: 15 minutes
Cooking: 10 minutes

  1. For roasting, halve medium-sized tomatoes and onions. Place them on a baking dish with edges, keeping the cut portion exposed. You want them packed in snugly along with whole garlic cloves. Spread them together in a single layer, sprinkle a generous amount of olive oil, kosher salt, bay leaves and fresh ground pepper. Microwave for 10 minutes, checking every 1-2 mins to see how they’re doing.
  2. For blending, let the roasted vegetables cool down completely (I use ice to speed up the process) before you place it into a blender along with half-cut beetroot (I use beetroot essentially to get a rich colour). Remove the bay leaf and the garlic peels by gently squeezing. Blend it into a fine paste without using any water. Do not use water to make the blend smoother, use vegetable broth instead (if needed).
  3. For simmering, heat one tablespoon of olive oil in a deep pan over medium flame. Transfer the puree into this pan along with the remaining vegetable broth, some more kosher salt (as per taste), lots of freshly ground pepper (you will love the essence) and keep stirring. Be sure to keep it thick and rich.
  4. For the finishing touch, add 3/4th cup of Amul fresh cream into the soup pan and keep gently stirring on a low flame.
  5. To transform your soup into a gourmet experience, simply garnish it with some roasted garlic. Bake some croutons with a hint of butter/olive oil, cut onion greens finely, use Amul fresh cream as the base of garnishing and voila!

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Manisha Khandelwal

I'm an assistant costume designer who quite literally never had the time to cook. Growing up in Kolkata in a family with a food business background, food was still not a big part of my reality. Until graduation school, I wore a uniform every day and had very little exposure to the idea of dressing up outside of that. We didn't watch much and no one I knew subscribed to Vogue. Creativity was always a constant, however. I was forever painting pictures, learning dance, growing crops and telling stories to my younger cousins. However, I shifted to Mumbai for my Masters and thereafter to Milan. I took the cooking challenge like a fish to water, realizing this was another opportunity to express myself creatively, to figure out and communicate who I was as a person. No matter where I was, I never gave cooking as much importance as anything else in my life until I had no work and had to fly back to my hometown. Now, as I reflect, there has been a drastic change in my life. I have been cooking a new cuisine every day and to be honest, my family is enjoying it and so am I. What a blissful change?!