Roasted Tomato Soup - This recipe makes a beautiful seasonal soup, which can serve as an elegant first course or the main entrée for dinner. Not only that, but tomatoes are loaded with vitamin C, which is always good to have in large quantities when the colder weather comes around.

1. Ingredients
● 2 Tbsp. Extra-virgin olive oil
● ¼ c. diced sweet onion
● 1 clove garlic, minced
● 1 carrot, diced
● 1 stalk celery, sliced thin
● 1 sprig fresh rosemary
● 2 sprigs fresh thyme
● 2 Tbsp. flour
● 4 c. lower-sodium chicken broth
● 4 c. roasted tomato sauce
● 2 tsp. dried oregano
● ¼ tsp. white pepper
● 2 Tbsp. dried basil (divided)
● 12 oz. can skim evaporated milk
● 1 tsp. kosher salt (if desired)
Roasted Tomato Soup

2. Instructions
● Strip rosemary and thyme from their stems. Measure out the 2 Tbsp. of flour into a small bowl.
● Heat 2 Tbsp. Extra-virgin olive oil in large sauce pan over medium heat and sauté onion, garlic, sliced celery, diced carrot, rosemary, and thyme till vegetables are somewhat tender. You
should be able to stick a fork into the carrots, but they shouldn't be mushy.
● Add flour to the sautéed vegetables, stirring continuously till all the flour is absorbed. Quickly pour in the chicken broth while continuing to stir. Cook on medium heat for about 5 minutes.
● Remove from heat and blend together all the ingredients in the pan using an immersion blender. If you don't have immersion blender, you can try a regular blender - but do it in batches
and proceed with caution since the mixture is hot.
● Turn the heat back on to medium and add the roasted tomato sauce, oregano, white pepper, and 1 Tbsp. of the basil. Cook on medium for about 5 more minutes. Do not boil.
● While the tomato mixture is cooking, we need to heat up the milk till it is warm, but not scalded or boiling. I did this by heating it in the microwave in a large (4 c.) glass measuring cup - 30
seconds at a time till it was heated. You could heat it up in a pan on the stove too, but be careful not to scald or boil it.
● Turn off the heat for the tomato mixture and blend it again with the immersion blender till smooth.
● Slowly add ½ c. of the hot tomato mixture to the hot milk while constantly whisking the milk. This is done to help prevent the milk from curdling. Continue to add the tomato mixture in
amounts of ½ c. until you have about 4 c. of the combined tomato and milk, all while continuing to whisk the mixture.
● Slowly add the tomato/milk mixture to the pan, stirring constantly.
● Add the remaining 1 Tbsp. basil to the soup. I like to blend it one more time with the immersion blender, but you don't have to if it's smooth enough for you already.
● Return the soup to the stove and heat it on medium just till it's ready to simmer. Remove from heat. Taste and add kosher salt if desired (though this will increase the sodium in the soup).
● Serve with your favorite crusty bread. Makes about 9½ c.