Roasted Tomato Bisque

I had my Royal Ladies' Tea Society Christmas Tea in my home a few days ago and tried this new recipe out on my friends.  This soup was a big hit with all of the ladies and I'm sure it will be with you also!  I also made it again in January for my family, with whom it was a great hit also!

I love to visit my favorite tea room, Belladonna (Lancaster, CA), in December because Donna serves her amazing Sun-Dried Tomato and Feta soup.  It's the most amazing tomato soup I've ever had!  When I found this recipe in my November/December 2011 issue of Tea Time Magazine, I was hoping to find  a soup that came in a close second!  I think this recipe meets that goal!

After lining a baking sheet that has sides with aluminum foil, in a large bowl, I combined the olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper.

After washing and cutting the tomatoes in half, I added them to the bowl, tossing them to coat with the oil and seasonings.

After slicing the onions I added them to the bowl, tossing them until fully coated.  It doesn't matter how thick you make your slices as all of the vegetables will be pureed after roasting, but you don't want to cut them too thin as they will overcook during the roasting process.  

  

I then transferred the vegetables to the baking sheet.  I put the tomatoes cut side down, figuring after the first half hour when the recipe says to stir the vegetables, I would use tongs to turn them over and it would be easy to make sure they had all been turned.

Into the oven the pan went for 1/2 hour at 450°F.  After that time, I turned all the vegetables and put them back in the oven for another 1/2 hour.  The picture above shows what they looked like after the full hour of roasting.

I let them cool for just over 10 minutes before placing 1/2 of the vegetables in my food processor to puree them.  When making this soup for the tea, I then transferred the puree to a Tupperware bowl and then into the refrigerator, as I did the roasting one day and reheated it the following day, adding the rest of the ingredients.  When I made this again for my family, I transferred the pureed vegetables to a Dutch oven, so the rest of the ingredients could be added right away.

Because the vegetables were still hot while processing them, I left the small food chute open to let the steam escape.  After processing the rest of the vegetables, I added them to the first half.

To finish the soup, after placing the pureed vegetables in my Dutch oven, I added the tomato paste, sugar, salt, lemon juice, and Worcestershire sauce.  I used a whisk to combine these ingredients and brought them to a simmer over medium heat.

Once combined, the soup was quite thick at that point.

Next I gradually added the chicken stock.  You can see that the soup was much thinner.  I let this simmer for 10 minutes.

Then I added the Parmesan cheese, stirring to combine.  The cheese started to melt right away.

Next I added the heavy cream.  The picture doesn't show it well because it sank into the soup as I poured it.  What you see are the last drops from the measuring cup.  

The last ingredient to be added was the fresh basil.  The bisque was ready to serve!

This soup was the first course at our tea and I'm sure the ladies would have asked for more if they hadn't known there were so many other yummy foods to follow.  Almost everyone asked for the recipe, though!  I forgot to add a small basil leaf to the top to make it look as special at it tasted, but did so when I made it for my family in January, as you can see from the picture above.  This recipe yields 2 quarts of soup, so even after serving small portions to the ladies (tea foods are always served in small portions) I had some to share with neighbors (who loved it and asked for the recipe) as well as have my oldest son try a cup.  After the first taste, he was singing praises.  He immediately made himself a grilled cheese sandwich to accompany the soup, which became his dinner that evening.  He also asked if I could make it again so he could take it to work every day for lunch!  Yes, it's that good!  Enjoy!

Roasted Tomato Bisque

2 ½ pounds Roma tomatoes, halved

1 large yellow onion, sliced

1 tablespoon minced garlic

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 ½ teaspoons salt, divided

1 teaspoon ground black pepper, divided

1 quart chicken broth

1 (6 oz.) can tomato paste

2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

2 cups finely grated Parmesan cheese

½ cup heavy whipping cream

1/3 cup chopped fresh basil

Preheat oven to 450°F.  Line a baking sheet with sides or roasting pan with aluminum foil.   Set aside.  In a large bowl, combine tomatoes, onion, garlic, olive oil, ½ teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon black pepper, tossing gently to coat vegetables.  Place in prepared pan.  Roast for 1 hour, stirring halfway through cooking time.  Remove from oven, and cool for 10 minutes.  In the container of a blender or food processor, puree vegetables until smooth.  In a Dutch oven, combine vegetable puree, chicken broth, tomato paste, sugar, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, remaining 1 teaspoon salt and remaining ½ teaspoon pepper, whisking until smooth.  Bring to a simmer over medium heat.  Cook for 10 minutes.  Add cheese, cream and basil, stirring until cheese is melted.  Garnish individual servings with basil leaves, if desired.