Fall comfort...

MORE comfort food...and what better for the arrival of fall weather than soup?? Now I have already posted about my love for grilled cheese and tomato soup. However, since I have tomatoes coming out of my ears (Farm Fresh is not joking around with the Heirloom Tomato delivery) I needed to come up with a recipe that would help me use them up before going bad.

This easy recipe holds for a week in the fridge and freezes well. While the original recipe calls for peeling the tomatoes, I took a short cut and just roughly chopped the tomatoes, cooked them down for the directed amount of time and then ran everything through a fine mesh strainer. Also, instead of a good ol' Velveeta grilled cheese, I use a bit of baguette I had leftover and tried two variations of cheese for my "fancy" creamy heirloom tomato soup served with arugula tossed with lemon juice and olive oil. The two cheeses up for debate: Goat cheese vs. Provolone. I hate to admit it, but provolone totally won. The pungent goat cheese kind of overwhelmed the mellow soup. Still delicious, but just not right for dunking (which is a MUST in my book when eating any sort of grilled cheese / tomato soup variation)!

Creamy Heirloom Tomato Soup
INGREDIENTS
Good tasting extra virgin olive oil (2-3T)
3 medium onions, chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 large cloves garlic, minced
Pinch hot red pepper flakes
1 generous tablespoon tomato paste
2-1/2 to 3 cups chicken broth
15 medium or 10 large delicious ripe tomatoes, cored and coarsely chopped (capture juices for the soup)
1/4 cup heavy cream
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Generously film the bottom of a 12-quart pot with olive oil. Set over medium high heat. When warm, add onions and about 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onions start to color.
2. Stir in the garlic, red pepper, and tomato paste. Cook 1 minute. Add broth and tomatoes. Bring to a lively simmer, cover the pot, and cook 15 to 20 minutes, or until tomatoes are softened and soup tastes fresh, but mellow. Adjust seasonings to taste. (I HAD TO SEASON QUITE A BIT HERE – ADDED MORE SALT, PEPPER, GARLIC and ONION POWDER)
3. Puree soup in a blender or food processor (I used my favorite immersion blender - SO EASY and convenient, just blends right in the original pot. After everything is pureed, strain to remove excess tomato skin/seeds.
4. Stir in the cream at the last minute – do not bring to a boil again as the cream may separate. This soup was already so creamy and flavorful I honestly think you could skip the cream all together. As you can see from the pic below, this was the color of the soup without any cream. Delish either way...ENJOY!