Roasted Tomato Soup

This is absolutely the best tomato soup I've ever had. Jeremy really doesn't like tomato soup (he was so excited to see this on the menu!) but he even admitted that this is pretty darn good.

Roasted Tomato Soup

1 1/4 lb. Ripe Tomatoes (about 4 Large Tomatoes)
1/3 Medium Yellow Onion
4 Garlic Cloves
2 Tbsp. Olive Oil
1 tsp. Salt
Pepper
1 1/2 Cups Low Sodium Chicken Broth
1 Tbsp. Tomato Paste
1/4 Cup Heavy Cream or Half and Half, optional


1. Preheat the oven to 350′. Cut the tomatoes and onion into wedges. Spread them on a rimmed baking sheet – don't separate onion pieces too much or the thin pieces will burn. Drizzle with the olive oil (I didn't measure this, I just drizzled some from the bottle) and sprinkle the salt and a generous amount of pepper on top. Tuck the garlic cloves somewhere in a tomato, so they don’t burn. Roast on the middle rack for 30-40 minutes until the tomatoes have broken down and everything is looking roasted. Remove and cool slightly.
2. Warm the broth and stir in the tomato paste to dissolve. Add the all of the ingredients from the roasting pan into the broth and let it gently simmer for 5-10 minutes. Use an immersion blender to puree the soup in the pan – if you pour the soup into a regular blender, hold the lid on very tight when you start to blend because the steam will force the soup up and it will splatter everywhere! The soup should be smooth, with a tiny bit of texture. Return it back to the pot, and add the cream to taste (I didn't use this), if using. Taste for salt and pepper.
3. Serve with some garlic bread or broil a few slices with a piece of mozzarella on top.

**I didn't use the cream and I didn't miss it.