Roasted Tomato Soup

Let's talk tomatoes! The late summer season has hit and nothing sounds better than using fresh farmer's market produce. This recipe calls for Roma tomatoes -- they're great for cooking because they have a thin skin and not too many seeds.

Topped with fried rosemary and homemade croutons, this soup is perfect as a main dish or with a side of grilled cheese.

Ingredients:

- 6 roma tomatoes (around 2 pounds)

- 1 small red onion

- 4 garlic cloves

- 1 parmesan rind

- 1/2 cup of basil

- extra virgin olive oil

- salt and pepper

- pinch of red chili flakes

- 1/2 -1 quart chicken stock (can be substituted with vegetable stock or water)

Toppings:

- basil

- 1 sprig rosemary

- parmesan

- crusty french bread

Directions:

First, preheat the oven to 400 F. Wash and prep the tomatoes by cutting into slices and placing on a baking sheet. Slice the garlic cloves and toss on top of the tomatoes. Drizzle generously with extra virgin olive oil and add in a pinch of salt and pepper. Roast the tomatoes for 15-20 minutes, until the tomatoes are soft and the juices begin to bubble.

While the tomatoes are roasting, heat up a pot to medium high heat. Add in the sprig of rosemary and fry until crisp. This will not only provide the garnish for the soup, but will slightly flavor the oil. Slice up the red onion and begin to sweat on medium heat. Add in a pinch of salt and red chili flakes. When they begin to release their liquid and turn soft, add in the roasted tomato and garlic. Stir to combine and allow it to cook on medium until everything melts together. Add in a cup of torn basil and the chicken stock. Depending on how thick you want the soup, add in more or less stock. I ended up using closer to 1 qt of chicken stock for my soup.

Let the soup come up to a boil and then lower the heat and leave it to simmer. While the soup is simmering, prepare the croutons by tearing up the crusty french bread. This is the perfect opportunity to use bread that may be too hard to eat. Tearing instead of cutting the bread will give it more texture. Toss the bread together with a drizzle of olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Since the oven will already be hot from the tomatoes, toast the bread without any heat setting. This should take around 10 minutes.

After allowing the soup to simmer, use an immersion blender to blend the soup together. Be careful as the liquid will be very hot. A blender or food processor can also be used (if using a food processor, try to only use a small amount of liquid at a time). Return all of the contents back into the pot and stir in a parmesan rind. This will give the soup an umami flavor.

After simmering for another 5-10 minutes, serve it up with the toppings and a crack of black pepper. Enjoy!