Roasted Tomato Soup...equals yummy!

I am not a fan of tomato soup.  Never have been.  Give me tomatoes any other way and I'm a happy girl  But tomato soup, ick.  Probably because all I've ever had has came from a can.

That is until I found this tomato soup recipe and now I'm a luuuver of tomato soup...as long as it's this recipe.

I'm not going to lie to you, this is a bit of work.  Not to mention the dishes you use to make it.  But it is beyond worth it, after eating you'll be singing as you clean up the mess you made.  I promise.  I always do.

I've served this with veggie sticks (roasted and/or raw), as well as grilled cheese sammies or quesadillas.

But you can serve with anything or leave it on it's own.  IT'S THAT FANTASTIC!

Tips:

If you love garlic like my family, you may want to add more.  I know I know, 6 cloves of garlic seems like a lot but with the strong flavors of the onion, tomatoes and the basil, the garlic doesn't stand out all that much.  I always add closer to 10 cloves.

It still turns out fab if you don't add the heavy cream.  Plus it saves on calories!  (Which I don't know the nutritional value of this soup, but I'm guessing it's healthy LOL).

I don't use 1/2 cup of olive oil.  I know it's a healthy oil but when I made this the way the recipe calls, everything seemed to be drowning in all the oil.  Plus that just seems like an awfully lot anyway.  Instead I spray the cookie sheets down with cooking spray, and I coat the veggies with oil.    If you do it this way you must coat the cookie sheet with cooking spray because the veggies tend to burn instead of caramelize.  I have never measured how much I use, but I doubt I come near 1/2 cup of oil.  Still tastes awesome too.

I don't have a hand blender, so what I do is wait until you add the basil, I ladle it in batches into my food processor and blend.  Then I return it to the pot and add the cream (or not it depends on if I have some)

I haven't tried freezing this recipe yet; we never have enough left over ;).  But if you want to, cook until the soup has reduced to 1/3 then freeze.  Don't add the basil and the heavy cream before you freeze it!! 

ENJOY!