It’s 1314 in the afternoon.
I have Erin Costelo’s album in the background – “Fire & Fuss” album.
It’s a light rain outside.
I’ve only thus far had a cookie for breakfast, and my glass of white wine of course.
My appetite has grown a mind of it’s own.
There’s an aroma of yellow garden & hot house red tomatoes, onions and garlic triculating from the oven.
Simple, Roasted Tomato Soup:
- 4 Large hot house tomatoes
- dozen yellow cherry tomatoes (mine are from my garden, but any other variety would do)
- Vegetable broth
- medium onion
- 6 garlic cloves
- basil
- olive oil
- balsamic vinegar (optional)
- brown sugar (optional)
Cut hot house tomatoes into quarters, peel and cut onions into bulky slices, peel garlic cloves. On a baking pan lay out the tomatoes, onions and garlic. Drizzle with olive oil, add salt/pepper (I used steak spice). Roast on 350 degrees for about an hour, or until vegetables are soft.
Let cool for a few minutes, and puree in the blender using amounts vegetable broth and basil, as needed to get a smooth consistency.
(At this step I found out my blender was not working so I improvised and used a potato masher over heat in hopes of mashing up the bulky onions/garlic cloves. Did not work as well, but still tasted yummy, if you don’t mind chunky pieces of onion and garlic in your soup. I don’t.)
Put on stove top and let cook for about 15 minutes for flavors to blend.
Turn off heat. I added 1 tablespoon brown sugar to cut the acidity of the tomatoes. I prefer my soup sweeter. Also at the end I drizzled in soup 25 star balsamic vinegar. MMmmmmmm.
As a side note, I took my friend who visited me in Atlantic Canada from Alberta to St Andrews-by-the-sea, New Brunswick, we indulged ourselves in a little shopping at the wonderful St. Croix Olive Oil shoppe. I had a chat with the owner about some of their products, and the 25 Star Balsamics are a fine grade of balsamics.
“Chefs order them by the box-full” he said.
I only bought one, must stick to budget.
They are a thicker consistency than grocery store balsamics, are aged longer (25 years) in barrels and made from white grapes. Like many great wines this vinegar is produced in Italy, in the Modena region. It is devine with just about anything, and has a sweet, pungent taste to it. For the balsamic vinegar lovers, I would highly recommend a taste!
KatiaEats 