Creamy Roasted Tomato and Basil Soup

I haven't posted many recipes in awhile and over the holidays I actually cooked something, mostly myself so thought I'd share the delicious recipe!!

It's a modified version I found for Hearty Hot or Cold Roasted Tomato Soup on the Allrecipes.com website.




Creamy Roasted Tomato and Basil Soup

2 pounds Roma (plum) tomatoes, quartered
3 tablespoons olive oil
8 cloves garlic
1 quart vegetable stock
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
1/2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 cup heavy cream
salt and ground black pepper to taste

Directions

Place the tomato halves, cut side down, on a baking tray with the garlic cloves. Drizzle with the oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast at 375 degrees F (195 degrees C) for 1 hour. Watch them though they may need more or less time depending on your oven. The tomatoes should be soft and blistering and the garlic should turn a light brown but make sure they don't burn.

Carefully peel as much of the tomato skin as you can off. Then snip the ends off the garlic cloves, and squeeze the insides into the bowl of a food processor along with the entire contents of the baking tray including the juices. Add stock, basil, and vinegar; blend until smooth then add the heavy cream. Now let it simmer for about half an hour to let the flavours develop and let the cream thicken. If you find you'd like it thicker in a bowl combine 1 tbs cornstarch and 1-2 tbs of cold water to create a slurry then add that to the soup and let it simmer and thicken.

Season and serve! It taste good with fresh Parmesan on top!

Out with 2010 and in with 2011!!

Well it's time for a year in perspective... was 2010 a good year? Was it everything I expected? After 2009, 2010 could only be better... and while it was still a year of recovery some pretty great and even amazing things did happen so I will say yes 2010, you were good to me.

It was the year I got engaged, in Las Vegas, so you can't get much better then that. I also got a new car, with power steering too!! James got on track and finished his second level of school and signed up for his third and final year. We jetted off to Hawaii to celebrate my 28th birthday and 3 wonderful years together. I reconnected with some old friends and disconnected with others, but in the end everything worked out as it was meant to.

I started kicking my butt into shape and working out on a regular basis as well as eating better. I started to feel a lot better and lost 15lbs. I took a bit of a break in December but I plan to get back on track and have done a few work outs already. The first one reminded me how long it had been and my plan for 2011 is to stay on the same path.

What will 2011 bring? Usually I'm thinking about my next trip, and even though I said this last year too, this year will hopefully be one of saving. I've built up a few debts in 2010 and I am planning towards a big adventure in 2012, so this year will be about working towards those big goals.