A Delicious Recipe, & the Story of Our Garden

There are a lot of great things about summer: float trips, beach vacations, sipping drinks while poolside, the return of "True Blood" to TV, etc. But one of my personal favorite things about summer is the fact that my garden is always bursting with fresh, delicious veggies. Right now we have an abundance of tomatoes, which I use to make one of my most favorite meals ever: roasted tomato soup. But before we get to that, here's a little background on our garden:

When I bought our house back in February of 2008, it had been in foreclosure for over a year. One thing you quickly learn while buying a house that's been foreclosed on is this: the bank that owns the house does not spend any more money on the house than they absolutely need to. No utilities are turned on, meaning you have to see the house during daylight. And if it's winter, like it was when I was checking this place out, you have to dress like you're going to spend the day outside sledding in the snow.

Needless to say, the front and back yards of the house were complete disasters when I moved in. Limbs that had fallen from our massive oak trees had just been tossed into the back yard (resulting in a HUGE pile) or stacked up around the trunk of the tree. A thick blanket of leaves covered both yards, grass was dead, bushes were overgrown, weeds ran rampant, etc. The yards were hideous. Once it warmed up, we hired a tree trimmer to fix up the trees, and since he's an awesome guy, he also hauled away the huge pile of leaves and limbs that had accumulated in the back. We were left with an ugly--yet very fertile--patch of soil.

Dan decided that this is where our garden would be. He built 3 raised beds, and I laid down pavers between them to make it easy to walk in between them. We planted a variety of veggies, including tomatoes. This is our 2nd year for growing tomatoes, and I couldn't be happier with the results. I've already pulled at least 100 cherry tomatoes off of one plant (yep, just one!), and the Roma and beefsteak tomatoes are starting to really take off.

I first made this recipe last year using a mix of tomatoes from our garden and those bought from the farmer's market. This year I've only used our tomatoes, and the results have been even better. Since we've had so many cherry tomatoes, that's what I've mostly used, but really any combination of tomatoes will turn out yummy.

Before I go on, please note:

*I can't take full credit for this; I based this on a Tyler Florence recipe, which you can check out here.

*I never really measure my ingredients out (I'm a taster, not a measurer), but for the sake of sharing this recipe with the world, I tried my best. Take heed, and don't hate me for not being precise.

*This recipe turns out best with really really ripe tomatoes - no pink tomatoes allowed!

*The amount of garlic looks overwhelming, but since it will be roasted, it's going to take on a more smooth, sweet flavor insted of its usual pungency.

Roasted Tomato Soup

2 to 3 lbs. tomatoes, or enough to fill a baking sheet

2 to 3 small onions, quartered

5 to 6 cloves garlic, peeled

1 tbsp. olive oil

4 tbsp. butter

2 tsp. Hungarian or regular paprika

3 bay leaves

1/2 to 1 cup white wine (stay away from anything really dry)

1 quart chicken or vegetable stock

1. Preheat your oven to 425 F.

2. Depending on the size of your tomatoes, cut them into quarters or halves. Do the same for the onions. Do whatever you need to do to get the casings off your garlic cloves (I do the knife-pound trick), and then toss the garlic, onions, and tomatoes in a little olive oil.

3. Spread your veggies out on a foil-lined baking sheet (this makes cleanup sooo much easier), and season with salt (sea or kosher please!) and pepper (freshly ground, please!). Roast in 425 oven for 30 minutes, or until the edges of the goodies start to caramelize and get brown.

4. While the veggies are roasting, go ahead and open that bottle of white wine. Drink as much as you'd like, but reserve about a cup for the soup.

5. When the tomatoes etc. have finished roasting, toss them into a large stock pot and stir in 4 tbsp. non-salted butter over medium low heat. (Yes, you can cut down on the amount of butter you use if you're trying to cut back on calories, but the butter really adds a silkiness to this soup that you don't want to miss out on.)

6. After the butter has had a chance to soak in, add the paprika. (You can use regular paprika instead of Hungarian, but I prefer the smokiness the Hungarian stuff adds to the sweet tomatoes - it's that little je ne sais quoi that makes this soup so damn good.)

7. Throw in your bay leaves, and pour in your preferred amount of white wine. I usually add no more than a cup, but just remember that the more wine you add, the sweeter your soup is going to be. Simmer for 5 minutes.

8. Add 3/4 of your chicken stock--you can always add more later if needed. Let this simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

9. Now it's time to make this mixture into a soup. Remove your pot from the heat and let everything cool for a few minutes. Then remove your bay leaves, and blend the concoction via immersion blender (my preferred M.O.), traditional blender, or food processor.

10. Give the soup a taste test. This is when I usually add a little more salt and pepper, if needed. You can also throw torn-up basil leaves into the mix at this point. Return the pot to low heat and let simmer for another 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Adjust the consistency by adding more chicken stock if needed.

Done!

This tomato soup is thick, hearty, and soooo delicious. I usually make a few batches each summer and freeze them for fall... but only if I can keep myself from eating all of it first. I've served this with cream added, with sour cream added, with asiago or parmesan shavings on top, and with extra basil added.

Have fun, and enjoy!