Andrea Soriano – Serves 4

In the early 2000s, my sister Sherry published a collection of recipes from a group of friends and family members. This recipe is from her collection. The Creamy Roasted Tomato Balsamic Soup blows the top off its canned counterparts. 

This soup is so delicious because of the Millard Reaction. Wow, that’s a million dollar word. Maybe I should just stick to words like caramelization. Anyhoo, I’m talking about the heat’s interaction with the sugars and amino acids which is what you need to get that rich, savory taste. You don’t have to remember “Millard Reaction,” but commit this to memory: BROWN EQUALS FLAVOR. To make this soup, combine the ingredients and preheat the oven to a high temperature. 
Creamy Roasted Tomato Balsamic Soup is a comforting dish perfect for a cold day, paired with my bonus son Greg’s gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches or served as an amuse bouche (again with the big words, geeze). I served this in a “very small portion” for a Christmas dinner. The color is perfect and because it is so rich and savory a little goes a long way. Leaving room for the main star of the dinner: Beef Tenderloin.

Ingredients

• 1 C Beef broth divided
• 1 T Brown sugar
• 3 T Balsamic vinegar
• 1 T Soy sauce
• 1 C Onion, chopped
• 5 Garlic cloves
• 2 Cans of whole tomatoes drained (28 oz.)
• ¾ C Half and half
• Cracked black pepper
• ¼ C Basil (chiffonade)

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  
• Combine ½ C broth, sugar, vinegar and soy sauce into a small bowl.
• Place onion, garlic and tomatoes onto a 9 x 13 baking pan that has been coated with cooking spray. 
• Pour broth mixture over the tomato mixture. 
• Bake vegetables for 40 minutes or until lightly browned.
• Place tomato mixture into a blender, add remaining broth and half and half (if you are serving right away you may want to heat the additional broth and half and half. 
• Process until smooth.
• Strain mixture through a sieve into a bowl, discard solids. You can use a food mill or a very fine mesh sieve depending on how smooth you like the soup.  
• Garnish with cracked pepper and basil  and a dollop ofcrème fraiche.
• You can make this up to two days in advance. Keep it refrigerated and reheat prior to serving.