Warm soup for a cool day!

This week's Lexington Farmers Market Newsletter included a recipe for roasted tomato soup and I thought it was a great reminder that local farmers still have tomatoes for sale.  Joyce Darby continues to sell to the public on Mondays 3-6 p.m. and her CSA includes tomatoes too.  These cool days we've had since tropical storm Lee came through Shelby County are making all of us think soups.  Let's make Roasted Tomato Soup and don't even consider leaving out the heavy cream or half and half!

Roasted Tomato Soup

• 1 1/4 lb. Ripe Tomatoes (about 4 Large Tomatoes)
• 1/2 Medium Yellow Onion
• 3 Garlic Cloves
• 1 Tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 tsp. Sea Salt
• Fresh Ground Pepper
• 1 Tbsp. Chopped Parsley
• 1 1/2 Cups Low Sodium Vegetable or Chicken Broth
• 1 Tbsp. Tomato Paste
• 1/4 Cup Heavy Cream or Half and Half, optional
• Fresh Oregano + Basil for garnish
• Fresh Grainy Bread
• Mozzarella Cheese 

1. Preheat the oven to 350. Cut the tomatoes and the half of an onion into wedges. Use your finger to push out some of the seedy parts of the tomatoes, but this is not a huge deal, just get out the big seedy parts, a bit intact is fine. Spread them on a rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with the olive oil and sprinkle the salt, a generous amount of pepper, the chopped parsley and gently toss it with your hands. Tuck the garlic cloves somewhere in a tomato, so they don't burn. Roast on the middle rack for 30-40 minutes until the tomatoes have broken down and reduced to about half their size. Remove and cool slightly.

2. Warm the broth and stir in the tomato paste to dissolve. Add the all of the ingredients from the roasting pan into the broth and let it gently simmer for 5-10 minutes. Use an immersion blender to puree the soup in the bowl, or with a food processor or blender. The soup should be smooth, with some texture. If you don't like any texture at all, you could run it through a fine mesh sieve. Return it back to the pot, and add the cream to taste, if using. Taste for salt and pepper.

3. Serve with some toasted bread, or broil a few slices with a piece of mozzarella on top. Garnish with fresh chopped basil and oregano.