Oven-roasted Tomato Soup

I think this started life as an Ina Garten recipe but Kari has added her spin to it in a few meaningful ways. It is very simple, but a little time-consuming due to oven-roasting ingredients before you really start on the soup. But the payoff for that roasted flavor is amazing.

You need:

• 3 pounds FRESH halved plum tomatoes
• extra virgin olive oil (we like Colavita or Queen Creek Olive Press)
• a touch of honey
• handful of pancetta or bacon (optional for you weirdos who don’t eat meat – Hi Cassie!)
• 2 big yellow onions, diced
• lotsa garlic (several cloves, about 5-7 go in oven with tomatoes, 3 minced)
• small hunk of butter
• 1 big can of san marzano (italian) whole or minced tomatoes
• 4 cups fresh basil leaves (remove most of stem)
• some dried or fresh thyme
• 2 boxes of  stock (chicken or veggie)
• kosher salt, black pepper, pinch of red pepper flake

Then do this:
Toss the halved tomatoes with about 1/4 cup of olive oil, a drizzle of honey, a pinch of salt and fresh ground pepper. Then lay them out in one layer on a baking sheet. Throw in a several unpeeled garlic cloves. Put in pre-heated 400 degree oven for 45 min to an hour. Get them nice and toasty for the best roasted flavor.

In the meantime, start sauteeing some minced bacon in a large pot (we’ve been using the Father’s Cinnamon Cured from Bacon of the Month Club). Chop 2 large yellow onions, mince a few cloves of garlic. Remove bacon and EAT. Saute onions and garlic in bacon drippings. Once sweated, add the canned tomatoes, stock (chicken or veggie), hunk of butter, basil and a sprinkle of fresh thyme.

Apparently it’s very important to toss your hair around during this stage (see pics).

After tomatoes have roasted, add them to soup base and bring to a boil, then simmer for 45 minutes. Get all the juice/drippings from baking sheet.

Let cool, then run mixture through a food mill (or press through a fine strainer) into a separate bowl. This removes all the skin and seeds. Then return to original pot and heat to taste. It’s really good cold too – like a gazpacho! You can also reduce it down to make a kickass pasta sauce. Enjoy!

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