Roasted Tomato Bisque

The seasons of Northern Nevada have such unique personalities.  I would describe Spring as being flirtatious, fickle and a big tease!  Just when you're about to embrace the warmer weather with those flip flops and shorter sleeves a cold front moves in to chill you again.  Soups are still a perfect meal during the Spring.  Light, yet hardy, and simple to make!  

Keep this recipe handy throughout the year, but especially when your tomato plants are giving you a bounty of tomatoes.  In the Winter switch to canned varieties.

Roasted Tomato Bisque

1/2 yellow onion, chopped

about 2 Tbsp butter

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 28 oz can of fire roasted tomatoes.  (You can roast your own but this is so much easier)

2 fresh tomatoes, chopped

2 cups broth (You can use veggie or chicken)

1 tsp herb de Provence seasoning

salt to taste

1 cup half and half

1 cup milk

I will now disclose that I made a giant batch for the restaurant, so these amounts are not exact.  I've found that soups are very "forgiving".  You can pretty much throw the ingredients together and 9 times out of 10 the result will be wonderful.

In a large pot start to cook the onions in the butter until they are soft.  Add the garlic, tomatoes, broth and seasoning, except for the salt.  Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to simmer and continue to cook for another 10 minutes.

Blend the soup in a blender or a Ninja (I love my new Ninja) and return the mixture to the pan.  Add the half and half and milk.  Turn the heat back on to simmer for 5 minutes.  Taste to see if it needs more salt.  Serve with grated cheese of your choice and some home made croutons!