Roasted Tomato Soup

Sometimes I just don't know what to make for supper! The nights when nothing sounds good and you just can't get up the energy to think about one more thing...it's tomato soup and grilled cheese! Our daughter, Julia is 17 and vegetarian, and this is one of her personal favorites! Late summer in Michigan has us wallowing in tomatoes so I use fresh now, but the canned are great for this recipe too! I like to puree mine, but if you prefer chunky soup...feel free! Like most soups, this tastes better the next day for lunch and freezes well for about 3 months. This is a smallish batch that feeds 4 comfortably or you can double it easily.

Grilled cheese is interesting for us...we make them from every kind of cheese we have in the fridge (American slices are not real cheese!) and add whatever we want. The beauty and downfall of owning a cheese shop is that just what you need you don't have at home, so improvise! We like to sprinkle the cheese with herbs, add roasted peppers, mustard or jam before frying. Melted cheese is somehow magical and comforting! I am fine with any sort of bread we have around.

1 14 oz can chopped tomatoes, drained or 4 large fresh tomatoes, peeled and chopped
1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper
Heat oven to 450 degrees, pour tomatoes into 13X9 pan, drizzle with EVOO and season with salt and pepper. Roast about 15 minutes (20 for fresh) until caramelized.

1 carrot, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 clove garlic minced
1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 1/2 cups vegetable or chicken stock
2 Tablespoons butter
1/2 cup heavy cream (optional)
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped

While tomatoes are roasting, in a large saucepan over medium heat, saute vegetables in EVOO until softened about 10 minutes. Add tomatoes, butter and stock and simmer 15 minutes until vegetables are very soft. Remove from heat and add cream and basil and blend with immersion blender until desired consistency. You can garnish with extra chopped basil, croutons or some crumbled blue cheese (Roquefort is delicious!) You can also substitute about 1/4 cup blue cheese for 1/4 cup of heavy cream for a different spin! Enjoy!