Spring is here and it is time to start planting those gardens. If you haven’t already, make sure you get your tomato and carrots planted now so you’ll be ready to make this delicious soup.  The key to this simple and unbelievably delicious dish is good tomatoes.  Get them from your garden or farmers market if possible, and choose organic!

The Science

A recent study found that organically grown tomatoes exhibited better quality than those grown conventionally, with higher amounts of the antioxidant lycopene and more sugars. Researchers assessed yield and quality of rice, tomatoes, carrots, potatoes and French beans in raised and sunken beds for four treatments – control, organic, conventional and integrated (which used half organic fertilizer and half synthetic fertilizer). After seven years of production, they found that carrot and tomato yields were highest under organic and integrated management compared to that of the control and conventional management. Meanwhile, yields for potatoes and French beans were highest under integrated management followed by organic management. Quality parameters for carrots and tomatoes grown in the organic plots were highest (including total sugars and the antioxidant lycopene in tomatoes and beta carotene in carrots), followed by those raised in the integrative plots.

The Recipe

Ingredients

•  

  8 cups of chopped fresh, ripe, organic tomatoes

• 2 cups of chopped organic carrots
• 4 cloves of organic garlic
• ½ cup of chopped fresh organic basil
• 4 tbsp. organic olive oil
• 4 cups of organic chicken or vegetable stock
• ½ cup organic heavy cream
• 1 tbsp. salt and more to taste
• pepper to taste
• Fresh grated organic parmesan cheese for topping

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, combine tomatoes, carrots, garlic cloves, and olive oil.  Combine well so that everything is coated in olive oil, then spread onto a baking sheet.  Roast the mixture for 1 hour, stirring once half way through. Transfer the roasted mixture into a blender and blend until creamy. In a large pot, combine the blended mixture, stock, cream, and salt and bring to a boil.  Remove from heat and add the chopped basil. Add additional salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot and top with fresh grated parmesan cheese.

Banner Photo Credit: Karolina Kolodziejczak; unsplash.com