French Style Onion and Oven Roasted Tomato Soup

It is amazing that the farmer's market still has such gorgeous tomatoes.  All of the organic tomatoes today were small and beautiful in color.

With my goal of trying to make food using only produce from the farmer's market, I decided that today's bounty would make a wonderfully sweet and luscious soup.

Roasting the tomatoes and caramelizing the onions brings out the most intense flavors.  Adding some herbs and garlic just enhances the natural flavors of the produce.

Because it takes a little time to make, it is the perfect soup to make on a day where you are at home with a list of chores as it takes very little man power, just random checking in.

French Style Onion and Roasted Tomato Soup
serves 4

• 3 lbs tomatoes
• 3 medium onions (or 6 small onions as that's what was available at the farmer's market)
• 3 cloves of garlic, sliced
• Thyme sprigs
• Salt, black pepper and red pepper flakes
• Olive oil
•  4 c. vegetable broth (I prefer 2 tsp. of Better Than Bouillon and 4 cups water)
• 1 tbs. dry basil
• 1 tbs. balsamic vinegar 
• 12 slices mozzarella cheese
• 4 tbs parmigiano reggiano cheese, grated

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees
(cook time is 2 1/2 hours, but active time is only about 30 minutes)

Cover the bottom of a large baking sheet with olive oil.  Cut the larger tomatoes in half and core. Place all tomatoes on the baking sheet in a single layer.  Peel and slice the garlic and scatter over the tomatoes (note: don't crush the garlic here like everyone does on TV to peel it, simply roll the clove around on your cutting board a few times and the skin will come right off.  This allows you to slice the garlic cloves more easily).  Then lay a few branches of thyme over the tomatoes. Drizzle with more olive oil and season liberally with salt and black pepper. Place in the oven to roast for 2 hours.

Meanwhile, peel and slice the onions. Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add olive oil to the pan and add the onions. Season with salt and red pepper flakes to taste. The red pepper flakes infuse into the sweetness of the onions and it is wonderful.  Saute for a minute or two until the onions are coated in oil and the pan is sizzling. Then reduce the heat to low and cook for 1 hour and 45 minutes, until the tomatoes are done. Cooking on such a low temperature takes much longer, but it also takes much less maintenance.  Stir the onions every 15 minutes or so.

Put the tomatoes and all their lovely juices into a soup pot along with the garlic, removing the thyme stems. Add 4 cups of stock.  Puree the soup with an immersion blender, blender or food processor. Be sure to keep the tomato skins that will get stuck in the immersion blends as they will add great texture to the soup.

Now add the onions, basil and balsamic vinegar.  Bring to a simmer and cook on low heat to meld all the flavors. This soup can sit on the stove on low for quite a while.

Preheat the broiler in your oven.

When you are ready to serve, ladle soup into ramekins. Cover with the slices of mozzarella cheese and then sprinkle 1 tbs of Parmesan on top of the mozzarella. Put on a sheet pan and place in the oven until the cheese is browned.  Serve with a green salad and/or bread.