roasted tomato soup

back when i lived in whistler i spent my days working in a tiny little café called ingrid's.  the café itself wasn't much bigger than my living room, but it churned out big flavours and was the place to get yourself a yummy homemade burger & bowl of soup after a day on the mountain (or in the morning to fuel you on your ride up on the gondola!).  the work wasn't the most exciting, but it was always fun and the days passed quickly as there was an endless crowd walking through the door and super fun coworkers from around the globe.  the only downside, and my whistler roomies could attend to this, was that i'd get home stinking of sandwiches.  hands, hair, clothes.... everything smelled like sandwiches!  pretty hot, i know.  somehow thankfully the stink didn't scare m away.

once the work day was done and we were doing our prep for the morning and closing up shop we'd wash up the soup pots, and if there was any soup remaining we'd pack it up and take it home.  on days when my friend pip made her roasted tomato soup, i'd cross my fingers that there would be a bowl left for me at the end of the day.  although i had never been a fan of that famous canned tomato soup, i discovered that i could eat bowl upon bowl of roasted tomato soup. 

funny, for something that i loved so much it's taken me 7 years to recreate it.  but i'm happy i finally did because it was just as i remember it - strong, sweet tomato flavours with a kick of garlic and basil. 

and thankfully i didn't end up smelling like sandwiches after plowing through a bowl (or three).

roasted tomato soup à la ingrid's village café
serves 6-8
2 1/2 lbs tomatoes
6-8 cloves garlic, peeled
2 tbsp + 1 tbsp evoo
1 yellow onion, minced
2 cups broth
3 cups water
1 cup fresh basil, chopped
sea salt

preheat oven to 375f.  wash, core and quarter your tomatoes and place them in a roasting dish with the garlic and 2 tablespoons of oil and a generous few pinches of sea salt.  pop them in the oven for 30-40 minutes, stirring things up once or twice as they cook. 

in a medium soup pot, heat the remaining oil and saute the onion until golden.  add in the roasted tomatoes and garlic, being sure to scrape every last bit into the soup pot.  add in the broth and water and bring to a boil.  reduce heat to simmer and add the basil.  cook for 15-20 minutes, then purée the soup either with an immersion blender or very carefully in batches in a regular blender.  return to pot and season to taste with a little more salt if need be.