Roasted Tomato & Carrot Soup

This soup is perfect any time of year. Including carrots helps balance out the acidity in the tomatoes. Your family will love this recipe with pretzel crisps or crunchy and melty grilled cheese sandwiches.

Ingredients:

1 large red onion, roughly chopped

2 large carrots, roughly chopped

3-4 celery stems, roughly chopped

10-12 garlic cloves

4 large or 8 small vine tomatoes

10 plum tomatoes

6-8 strands fresh thyme

1/4 cup olive oil

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 carton of chicken broth

Salt & pepper to taste

1 tbsp sugar (or as needed)

1/2 cup heavy cream

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400F.

2. Add garlic cloves to two layers of aluminum foil, drizzle with 1 tbsp of olive oil, and wrap tightly in a purse.

3. In a sheet pan, toss quartered vine and plum tomatoes with a generous drizzle of olive oil, fresh thyme sprigs, salt, pepper, and balsamic vinegar. Add the garlic purse to the sheet pan as well then bake until the tomatoes are charred or completely broken down.

4. In a dutch oven, saute chopped onion and carrots in 2 tbsp of olive oil until golden brown.

5. Remove thyme springs from baked sheet pan and add tomatoes to the soup pot. Crush the roasted garlic with a fork before adding to the same pot.

6. Cover the vegetables with the chicken broth and bring to a simmer.

7. Once carrots are tender, blend with an immersion blender until the soup is very smooth.

8. Add cream at the end and adjust seasoning with salt, pepper, and sugar if needed.

Tips:

• If you feel like your blender isn't making the soup smooth enough, you can pour it through a sieve to ensure no fibers are left behind.

• To feel extra fancy, drizzle in a tiny bit of extra heavy cream when serving and swirl it in with a fork or tooth pick.

• Serve with hot Parmesan croutons, grilled cheese sandwiches, or buttered toast. .