Homemade Tomato Soup

This has been our *favorite* soup since 2009. Truly. When I make this my two year old cleans his bowl before he even touches his grilled cheese. I usually serve this with pesto chicken panini. Ciabatta bread, Costco pesto, tomato, fresh mozzarella, Costco rotisserie chicken, salt and pepper on my Foreman grill. We make this after we go on a shopping trip to Costco, did you guess? I actually need to make this again so I can really take a picture of it (forgive the travesty below) and I can't wait! Ah. It is IN.CREDIBLE.

I apologize for the photo - I am seriously the worst.  

Adapted from Easy Entertaining with Michael Chiarello
Serves 4

1- 14 oz. can diced tomatoes
3/4 cup olive oil
salt and pepper
1 stalk celery, diced
1 carrot, scrubbed and diced
1 small yellow onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cups chicken brother
1 bay leaves
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, chopped
1/2 cup heavy cream (optional....but highly recommended)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. While your oven is heating, open your can of tomatoes and strain them in a wire colander over a bowl for 5 minutes. (keep the juice, you'll need it later). Take a large baking sheet and spread the tomatoes out on it. Sprinkle with a little kosher salt and pepper (about 1/2 teaspoon) and then drizzle 1/4 cup of olive oil over the top. Toss to cover the tomatoes in the oil. Roast for about 15 minutes, until the tomatoes start to caramelize to turn dark brown in spots. Remove from oven and set aside.

While your tomatoes are roasting, pull out a large saucepan. Heat the remaining 1/2 cup of olive oil over medium heat. Add the celery, carrot, onions and cook until soft...10-15 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another minute. incorporate the reserved tomato juice, chicken brother, bay leaf, butter and roasted tomatoes. simmer until everything is nice and tender, another 15-20 minutes. Remove from heat.

Add the basil and cream and purée with an immersion blender until nice and smooth. You can also purée the soup in batches in your blender.

Observe the empty bowl and the untouched grilled cheese. 

A shot of the panino. Scrumptious.