Roasted Tomato Soup

I love spring peas and rhubarb, and winter squash and venison, but there is no more anticipated season in my year than the tomato harvest.

A fresh, ripe, warm-from-the-sun, just-plucked-off-the-vine tomato, the little cherry ones popped in your mouth and so bursting with flavor, it would be more appropriate to call them Starbursts instead of cherry tomatoes, but that name is taken already; the perfectly round ones that fit right in the palm of your hand, eaten like an apple with juice and seeds running down your chin and probably onto that white t-shirt you are wearing, but who cares, rock that tomato stain like a badge of pride; or the huge meaty lopsided Beefsteak tomatoes, sliced open to reveal an intricate web of tomato flesh, seed and juice and just begging for a piece of toasted 12-grain and a slather of mayo for lunch.

As I luxuriated in my tomato wealth this year, I decided to make a righteous tomato soup. We are so accustomed to the canned Campbell's version that it's a shock to the system to eat a real, fresh-tasting, no HFCS tomato soup. To up the ante, I roasted the tomatoes, knowing full well that roasting practically anything brings on a greater depth of flavor and character.

The end result: a soup with the very essence of tomato, tasting as fresh and summery as a caprese salad (which you can easily imply, with a little cheese and basil atop, or little cheesy basil toasts alongside).  This was my lunch for an entire week, and I like to think, much like the roasted tomatoes, my daily lunch of real tomato soup brought out some of my own character and essence as well.   

Roasted Tomato Soup

Still love canned tomato soup and want a little more Campbell-ness in this?  Try adding another spoonful of sugar and see where that takes you. Adapted from my beloved big green Gourmet Today cookbook.

4 lb tomatoes, halved lengthwise
6 garlic cloves, left unpeeled
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano, crumbled
2 teaspoons sugar
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 cups chicken stock or low-sodium broth
1/2 cup heavy cream

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat to 350°F. Arrange tomatoes, cut sides up, in 1 layer in a large shallow baking pan and add garlic to pan. Drizzle tomatoes with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast tomatoes and garlic 1 hour, then cool in pan on a rack.

Peel garlic. Cook onion, oregano, and sugar in butter in a 6- to 8-quart heavy pot over moderately low heat, stirring frequently, until onion is softened, about 5 minutes. Add tomatoes, garlic, and stock and simmer, covered, 20 minutes.

Purée soup in batches in a blender (use caution when blending hot liquids), then force through a sieve into cleaned pot, discarding solids. Stir in cream and salt and pepper to taste and warm the soup again if needed to serve.