Ultimate Roasted Tomato Soup

1. Preheat your oven to 450°F.  Wash and core the tomatoes, red onion, and fennel bulb; seed and de-stem the bell pepper; peel the carrot.  Chop them all into similar sizes.  

2. Drizzle the garlic oil from the garlic confit over the vegetables. Add kosher salt, black pepper, rosemary, thyme and oregano. Gently toss to make sure everything is coated. Spread ingredients evenly onto a sheet pan and roast them in the oven for about 25 to 30 minutes,  or until the vegetables are blistered and caramelized. You may need to  remove herbs halfway through rosting if they start to scorch.

3. Julienne the yellow onion. In a large pot over medium heat, melt some butter.   Add the onions and slowly caramelize, stirring occasionally until moderate brown color is achieved. Add bay leaf and tomato paste and allow it to cook for a minute.  Deglaze the pan with white wine and use a rubber spatula to "clean" the brown bits in the pan which contributes to the flavor as well.

4. Remove vegetables when they are done roasting; pull stems from herbs and discard.  Transfer vegetables and herbs into the pot with the onions.  Add the reserved garlic confit, ground coriander, ground fennel, paprika, chicken (or vegetable) stock, balsamic vinegar and cover with a lid and allow to simmer for 10 minutes.

5. Remove bay leaf. Use a stick-blender to blend the pot of vegetables into a smooth soup consistency.  Taste the soup to see if it needs more kosher salt and black pepper.  I like to garnish the soup with crème fraîche or sour cream, but you can also blend the cream right into the soup as well.  Finally, garnish the soup with fresh basil.  Enjoy!

Garlic Confit

1. In a ramekin, combine garlic cloves (peeled), fresh thyme, rosemary, and bay leaf. To this, add extra virgin olive oil enough to cover the garlic. Place in an oven preheated to 250°F and roast for two hours. Allow the garlic confit to cool down completely.