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!