Roasted Tomato and Blue Cheese Soup

Soups are the ultimate comfort food, perfect in the Autumn, Winter and Spring, and even on a Summer day.  This soup is one of those year-round soups.  Even if it is too hot to use the oven to roast the tomatoes, you can always roast them on your gas or charcoal grill.

I like tomato soup (as long as it isn’t one of those canned versions), and one of my favorite cheeses is blue cheese, so this soup hits a positive on all counts.

I usually make this on a cool Saturday afternoon, and serve for dinner.  Any leftovers are always a Sunday lunch, served with grilled cheese sandwiches.  Yumm!! 

Roasted Tomato and Blue Cheese Soup

3 pounds of roma tomatoes, peeled, and seeded
2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons vegetable oil 
1 leek, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 1/2 quarts chicken stock
4 ounces blue cheese, crumbled
3 tablespoons heavy cream
fresh basil leaves
salt and pepper to taste

Heat the oven to 400F.  Spread out the tomatoes in a lightly oiled baking dish — 13×9 cake pan will work quite well.  Sprinkle with garlic, salt and pepper and roast for 35 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the oil, and saute the leek and carrot for about 3 minutes, then turn the heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes, until soft.

Stir in the chicken stock, and tomatoes.  Bring to a boil, then lower the heat to medium-low, and simmer for 20 minutes.

Remove from heat and add the blue cheese, cream and basil.  Using a stick blender, puree the soup until smooth. 

Notes:

• If you don’t have a stick blender, use a regular blender and work in small batches until the soup is smooth.
• If you don’t have fresh basil, don’t worry – just use about 1 teaspoon dried, adding it in during the last 5 minutes the soup is simmering.
• If you have leftovers, and need to re-heat the soup, do make sure you don’t boil it – just warm it through, as the milk may break, and curdle on reheat.