Tomato Soup With a KICK

This weekend, I decided to try out a new recipe for dinner.  I was in the mood for tomato soup so I decided to try out a recipe from one of my go-to chefs, Ina Garten.  This soup was full of flavor, with just the right amount of kick.  It wasn't difficult and was a big hit in our house!  Here is the link to the recipe . 

First I tossed the tomatoes with some olive oil, sea salt and ground pepper.

Tomatoes with olive oil, sea salt and ground pepper

Next, I placed them on a baking sheet and put them in the oven for 45 minutes at 400 degrees.

Tomatoes on baking sheet

While the tomatoes were roasting, I chopped two yellow onions and put them in a large stockpot, along with 6 cloves of garlic.  I added olive oil, butter and some red pepper flakes.  I added a tad more red pepper flakes than the recipe called for to kick it up a notch!  I cooked these ingredients over medium heat for about 10 minutes so the onions could brown a little.

Onion, garlic, butter, olive oil and crushed red pepper

Next, I added the canned tomatoes, basil, thyme and chicken stock.  I didn't use as much basil as the recipe called for and it still turned out great!

Adding canned tomatoes, chicken broth, basil and thyme

Once the roasted tomatoes were done, I added them, along with any liquid on the baking sheet, to the stockpot.  I cooked this for about 40 minutes on a simmer.

Adding the roasted tomatoes

After 40 minutes, I took our immersion blender and decided to smooth out the soup.  I didn't want big chunks of tomato in the soup.  I probably used the immersion blender for about 20 seconds.

The FINISHED product!! YUMMMMY!!

The soup turned out fantastic.  We added a few baked pita chips on top, and voilà, a perfect winter soup!  I think tonight I will make grilled cheese to go along with it!