Roasted Tomato Soup

Well I knew it wouldn’t take long for someone to come at me screaming “SOUP!” Sho ‘nuf I got a text from NYC’s newest transplant – J Melt – not one hour ago insisting Nummy get on top of it. I agree it is sheer blasphemy that a soup addict like myself has overlooked this category but The Chef and I have the same problem: soup is often a taste-and-toss experiment, so it’s hard to put a recipe down on paper (or “on blog” as it would be here).

Nonetheless, he’s rustled one up, and it happens to be my favorite. I forced him to make this the first time he ever cooked for me despite the fact that it was 98 degrees outside, and I ate every bit of it. Nothing says “first date” like tomato soup and red wine during a Memphis summer. I’ll tell you what I told him:
Soup knows knows season so you best learn to love it.

2 1/2 pounds of tomatoes
5 garlic cloves, peeled
2 small onions, sliced
1/2 cup olive oil
salt and black pepper to taste
1 quart chicken stock
3/4 cup of heavy cream
Chopped parsley, basil, and thyme (small amount of each)

1. Preheat the oven to 450
2. Wash, core, and cut tomatoes in half.
3. Spread tomatoes, onions, and garlic on a sheet pan. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Roast until caramelized, about 30 minutes. (This is the step that makes the nummies super-nummy, so don’t be skipping.)
4. Let the veggies cool, and add them to the food processor. (You can also use an immersion blender if you’re fancy like that.)
5. Once pureed, add to a stock pot. Add chicken stock and bring soup to a boil, them simmer for 20 minutes.
6. Add cream and fresh herbs. Bring to a boil once more and it’s DONE.

To bring the fancy, The Chef likes to garnish with crumbled goat cheese, croutons and basil. For this recipe, fancy=yummy, so don’t skip the trimmins.