Roasted Tomato Soup

Life outside the Campbell's can is good, people.  Homemade tomato soup is pretty damn easy and so, so much better, it's well worth the extra effort.  Plus, I pretty much don't believe that anything from a can is real food.  This soup is made sweet and creamy with the addition of an acorn squash in lieu of any dairy-type product, which worked beautifully.  Probably any sweet, creamy squash would work, such as butternut.

Know what else is super easy and makes everything way better?  Roasting vegetables.  It brings out sweetness and flavor, even in those not-so-super winter roma tomatoes.  If you're going to make a vegetable soup of some kind, roast the vegetables beforehand to really make it out of this world.

This soup was, quote, "the best tomato soup ever."  I even snuck up to have a late-night snack, cold and straight from the tupperware.  'Nuff said?

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Roasted Tomato Soup


Ingredients

• 3 lbs tomatoes, cored and halved
• 8-10 cloves garlic, peeled
• 1 yellow onion, cut into wedges
• 3 T olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 acorn squash
• 4 C vegetable broth
• 1 bunch fresh basil, de-stemmed and roughly chopped
• 1 T fresh rosemary, roughly chopped
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• pinch red pepper flakes
• salt and pepper to taste
• agave nectar (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425° F.
2. Place tomatoes (cut side down), garlic, and onion on a big ol' baking sheet.  Drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Roast for 45-60 minutes, until everything is browning and delicious-smelling.
3. At the same time, roast the squash.  I cut it in half, seeded it, and put it right on top of my veggies. You could also leave it whole and pop the whole thing in the oven.  The squash is done when a fork will easily pierce the skin.  Don't worry about over-cooking it; everything's getting pureed later.
4. Toss all the roasted veggies into a soup pot.  Scoop out the flesh from the squash and toss it in, too.  If bits have stuck to the pan, use the veggie broth to deglaze and/or scrape them off.
5. Add the broth, herbs and spices to the soup pot.  Heat until boiling, then simmer covered over medium-low heat for 10 minutes or so to combine flavors.
6. Use an immersion blender to puree everything to a smooth and creamy texture.  Add salt and pepper to taste, and if it's not as sweet as you like, a little agave nectar.

Serves about 8.  Serve hot, with a yummy crusty bread.