Roasted Tomato Soup with Fresh Basil *Recipe # 1 - Page 81*

I had my mom over for dinner and she loved this soup. I thought it was pretty good. I would give it a 6 or 7 on a rating scale of 1 to 10, 10 being awesome. This is a good rating for tomato soup. I mean can it ever really be a 10?

This was a fairly easy and economical soup to make. I bought a package of vine ripened cherry tomatoes, 3 roma tomatoes, and one purple heirloom tomato. I estimate the ingredients cost around $8 for the whole pot of soup and it was fresh and healthy, until I added the cream....okay and the 1/2 cup olive oil.

I added a squeeze of fresh lemon at the end to brighten the soup up. You could add red pepper flakes, cheese, or croutons/crackers. I served this with Tyler's grilled cheese with basil pesto and smoked mozzerella. I will warn you that it is garlic overload. There are 10 cloves of garlic between the two recipes. Using mouthwash afterwards will not help. You will be warding off vampires for awhile.

The other thing I noticed was that I used one whole cup of olive oil today for two recipes. Yikes!! I better buy stock in olive oil and eat small portions. Tyler must love olive oil.

Here is the recipe.

RECIPE

2 and a half pounds of fresh tomatoes (mix of heirlooms, cherry, vine and plum)

2 small yellow onions, sliced

6 garlic cloves, peeled

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

Kosher salt and pepper

4 cups of chicken broth

2 bay leaves

4 tbsp. unsalted butter

1/2 cup chopped fresh basil leaves

3/4 cup heavy whipping cream

1 cup croutons (optional)

Roast tomatoes, garlic and onions with olive oil, salt and pepper at 450 for 20-40 mins. (depends on size of tomatoes). Transfer roasted veggies and liquid into a large stockpot and add 3 cups of broth, bay leaves, and butter. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 20 mins until reduced by a third.

Remove bay leaves and add chopped basil. Use an immersion blender or a blender to puree soup. Return to low heat and add all the cream. Season and ladle into bowls and garnish.

Serves 4 to 6. Took me about 1 and 1/2 hours to cook start to finish.