Roasted Tomato and Basil Soup with Cheese Tortellini.

I found a new food blogger For the Love of Cooking who has some amazing looking recipes. Below is my take on one of the many I plan to try!

Roasted Tomato & Basil Soup with Cheese Tortellini

(adapted from For the Love of Cooking)

To Roast the Tomatoes:

2 – 28 oz. cans of whole tomatoes

4 tablespoons wild tree roasted garlic grape seed oil (or olive oil)

Salt & pepper to taste

2 teaspoons dried basil

Dried garlic to equivalent 4-6 cloves

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Strain tomatoes from juice, reserving juice. Line baking sheet with foil and cover with cooking spray. Place tomatoes on baking sheet and drizzle with grape seed oil. Sprinkle with basil, salt, pepper, and garlic. Place in the oven and roast for about 30 minutes – do not over roast or tomatoes will become dry.

To Make the Soup:

2 tablespoons roasted garlic grape seed oil (or olive oil)

1 yellow onion (diced)

3 carrots (diced)

4 stalks of celery (diced)

Dried garlic to equivalent 4 cloves

4 cups chicken broth

Bay leaf

1 teaspoon sugar

2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar

1.5 cup milk

20 oz. package of cheese tortellini

Grated romano cheese

Heat grape seed oil, onion, carrot, and celery in large soup pan. Cook until tender. Add garlic and stir. Add broth, reserved tomato juice, bay leaf, sugar, vinegar, and roasted tomatoes. Cook over medium-low heat for 2-3 hours.

Place milk in a separate blow. Slowly add a little bit of soup mixture into milk. Do NOT pour cold milk into the soup because it will curdle. Once the milk is warm, add it to the soup and stir until mixed. Remove the bay leaf and use an immersion blender to blend until smooth.

Add tortellini and cook for an additional 10 minutes. Serve in a soup bowl topped with romano!

Really, this is not difficult or time consuming to make. Most of your time is spent smelling the soup cook and resisting the urge to try it before it’s complete! The end result is tasty!

And, if you do not have an immersion blender, you will want to buy or borrow one (thanks mom!) - trying to pour or strain and use a regular blender will make more dirty dishes and make you more work than you need to!