Roasted Tomato Soup with Toasted Garlic Cheese Bread

olive oil
2 tbsp butter
1 onion, chopped or grated
a few garlic cloves, crushed
lots of roasted plum tomatoes (about a dozen)
a can of fire-roasted or diced tomatoes
1 L chicken or veggie stock
a splash of cream
salt and pepper to taste

Toasted Cheese:
crusty bread, thickly sliced
garlic butter
sharp cheddar cheese, grated

In a soup pot, heat a drizzle of oil and a butter and sauté the onion and garlic until soft. Add the tomatoes – roasted and canned – and the chicken stock. Bring to a simmer and let cook for half an hour, until slightly thickened and everything is soft. Add a splash of cream and whiz it all with a hand-held immersion blender right in the pot, off the heat. Season with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, toast the bread, butter it, and set atop the soup. Sprinkle with a bit of grated cheese.

Run the soup topped with the toasted bread under the oven broiler for a couple minutes, until melted and golden. (be sure it is an oven safe bowl!)

Tags: cheese, cream, roasted, soup, toast, tomato