Gordon Ramsay’s tomato soup is 1.5kg of ripe tomatoes seared with red onion and cayenne, then roasted until the edges char. It gets blended with stock, cream and a sundried tomato pesto. The recipe comes from Ultimate Home Cooking, serves four and takes 50 minutes.
The book calls it Creamy Tomato Soup with Sundried Tomato Pesto. In his YouTube video he says “you roast the tomatoes and they don’t stew, and it’s a big difference in flavour.” The soup takes him back to skipping school for his mother’s homemade version.
The detail that separates his pesto is the jar oil. He drains the sundried tomatoes but keeps the oil, then uses it to loosen the pesto to a spooning consistency. Most people pour that flavour down the sink.
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Gordon Ramsay Tomato Soup
Course: SoupsCuisine: BritishDifficulty: Easy4
servings15
minutes35
minutes460
kcal50 minutes
The nostalgic creamy tomato soup from Ultimate Home Cooking, rebuilt with cheffy tricks: tomatoes caramelised in a roasting tray on the hob, stock poured straight over to catch every scrap, and a pounded pesto spooned on top.
Ingredients
1.5kg (3.3 lb) ripe tomatoes, cored and halved
2 red onions, peeled and sliced
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely sliced
½-1 tsp cayenne pepper, to taste
Olive oil, for drizzling
1 tsp caster sugar
1 tsp aged balsamic vinegar
1L (4 cups) vegetable or chicken stock
100ml (⅓ cup) double cream
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- For the Sundried Tomato Pesto:
2-3 tbsp pine nuts
75g (3 oz) sundried tomatoes, drained and oil reserved, finely chopped
50g (2 oz) Parmesan, grated
Olive oil
Directions
- Sear the base: Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Place a roasting tray on the hob over medium-high heat, add the onions, garlic and cayenne, drizzle with enough olive oil to coat and cook for 3-4 minutes.
- Caramelise the tomatoes: Add the tomatoes cut side down, season with a pinch of salt, pepper and the sugar, then drizzle over the balsamic. Cook on high heat for 3-4 minutes until they begin to caramelise, stir well, then roast in the oven for 20-25 minutes.
- Make the pesto: Toast the pine nuts in a dry pan until golden. Pound the sundried tomatoes in a mortar until broken down, season with a touch of salt, add the nuts and keep pounding to a pesto consistency. Stir in the Parmesan, then add olive oil and enough of the reserved sundried tomato oil to reach a spooning consistency.
- Simmer: Place the tray back on the hob over medium heat and pour in the stock. Bring to the boil and simmer for 4-5 minutes, then add the cream, stir well and simmer for 2-3 minutes more.
- Blend and serve: Blend with a stick blender until almost smooth with a couple of chunky bits, or use a potato masher for a more rustic texture. Serve warm with dollops of pesto on top.
Notes
- Ramsay’s tip from the same page: a pinch of sugar brings out tomatoes’ natural sweetness, especially when they are not fully ripe. That is why the caster sugar goes on with the seasoning at the sear, not at the end.
FAQs
Why roast the tomatoes instead of just simmering them?
Roasting caramelises the edges and concentrates the sugars, which gives the soup a smoky depth that boiled tomatoes can’t match. Ramsay is specific about this: sear them on the hob first for colour, then transfer to the oven so they roast rather than stew.
The charred bits on the bottom of the tray are flavour gold. When you pour the stock in and scrape them up, all of that caramelisation dissolves into the broth.
Why make the pesto in a mortar instead of a blender?
Ramsay says in the video “you feel so much more in control” with a mortar than a blade spinning at a thousand miles an hour. Pounding gives you a rougher, more textured pesto where you can still see bits of pine nut and sundried tomato.
A blender makes it too smooth and you lose the contrast against the creamy soup. If you don’t have a mortar, pulse a food processor a few times and stop well before it turns into a paste.
Can I use regular basil pesto instead?
You can, and I have a basil pesto recipe that works well here, five ingredients pulsed for 45 seconds. But the sundried tomato version adds a concentrated tomato hit that doubles down on the soup’s flavour in a way basil doesn’t.
Ramsay designed them as a pair, so the pesto intensifies what’s already in the bowl rather than pulling it in a different direction. If you want it closer to a tomato basil soup, stir the basil version through instead and drop fresh leaves on top.
What about the Welsh rarebit he serves with it?
Ramsay serves this soup with his Welsh rarebit in the book and the video, and honestly it takes the whole thing to another level. It’s a roux made with butter, flour and ale instead of milk, mixed with Dijon, Worcestershire and Montgomery Cheddar, spread on toast and grilled until bubbling.
It’s the best cheese on toast you’ll ever have, and dipping it into the soup makes this a proper meal. If baking is on the cards, his white bread makes a soft loaf built for dunking. Or grilled cheese if you’re in the US, with a lentil salad for a full lunch.
Can I add red peppers to this?
Ramsay has a separate Roast Red Pepper and Tomato Soup in Bread Street Kitchen which does exactly that: roasts red peppers alongside the tomatoes for a sweeter, more complex flavour.
If you want to try it, add 2 deseeded red peppers cut into chunks with the tomatoes before they go in the oven. Everything else stays the same.
