Roasted potato basil soup

Ingredients:

• 9 Roma tomatoes sliced lengthwise
• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 yellow onion diced
• 4 garlic cloves minced
• 1 tbsp fresh thyme minced
• 1 tsp Kosher salt
• ½ tsp ground black pepper
• 1 28 oz. can San Marzano tomatoes crushed
• 1 cup basil fresh, roughly chopped
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 2/3 cup heavy cream

  

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 375°F.
• Spread tomato halves on a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil, and then sprinkle with salt and black pepper.
• Roast tomatoes for 1 hour. Remove from oven and set aside.
• Heat 2 tbsp oil, or butter, in a large pot (or Dutch oven) over medium-high heat.
• Add onion, and saute for about 5 minutes.
• Stir in the garlic, thyme, salt, and pepper. Sauté for another minute.
• Add crushed tomatoes, basil, and sugar to the pot. Lower the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes.
• Add the stock and the roasted tomatoes into the pot. Simmer for 30 minutes, stirring every now and then.
• Use an immersion blender to purée the soup, or very carefully transfer to a blender or food processor to purée. This would most likely need to be done in a couple batches. Return the soup to the pot.
• Stir in the cream.
• To make the mini croutons: Cut a few small pieces of bread in small cubes, add a little oil, diced garlic and basil…bake at 400 for about 7 minutes… these make wonderful croutons!
• Add the croutons to the top of the served soup. Serve at once!