Roasted Tomato Soup #13

Tomato Soup try 3. This is probably one of the more difficult recipes I have, simply because I'm using fresh ingredients. I've never roasted and peeled tomatoes before. I'm not sure what chiffonade basil leaves are, so I'm just using regular.

The case:
3 pounds, medium plum tomatoes, halved lengthwise
4 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Pinch sugar
3 tablespoons butter
4 shallots, chopped
2 tablespoons tomato paste
4 cups chicken stock
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1 cup heavy cream
3 tablespoons chiffonade fresh basil leaves

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Arrange tomatoes, flesh side up, on 2 wire racks set on sheet trays. Drizzle the tomatoes with olive oil, making sure they are well covered. Season with salt, pepper and sugar.

Roast in the middle rack of the oven until tomatoes are brown and tender, about 1 hour. Cool slightly.

Melt butter in 4-quart saucepan over medium heat. Saute the shallots for 2 minutes, and then mix in tomato paste for a few more minutes. Add chicken stock and cayenne. Add heavy cream and heat over low heat. Bring up to a boil then reduce heat to low and let simmer for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, peel skins off tomatoes. Add the roasted tomatoes to the pan.

Puree with an immersion blender. Season with salt and pepper. Ladle into serving bowls and garnish generously with fresh basil.

The ruling:
Several changes I made to this: Put chopped basil in the soup, used 1/2 regular minced onion instead of shallots, added 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder and oregano. This soup was extremely good. I loved the texture! I have a recipe very similar to this, but with more spices. I can't wait to try it. I'm going to try a couple tomato soup recipes, but it is going to be hard to beat this one!