Tomato and Blue Cheese Soup

The weather here is showing signs of cooling - cool nights and warm (but not hot) days. I always prefer the weather and sun in summer, but I love fall cooking. During summer, ingredients are so superb that you can eat basically everything fresh or lightly-cooked. Perfect produce is great, but when I'm not interested in heating the house any more than absolutely necessary, I ignore lots of cooking methods. With fall I can return to roasting and baking, without roasting myself in the process. Andy and I tackled this recipe tonight, adapted from one of my most-used cookbooks, Soup: Superb ways with a classic dish edited by Debra Mayhew. We used some oak-smoked salt we found in Vancouver BC, and it added a nice richness to the soup without making it heavy.

3 lbs ripe tomatoes, peeled, quartered and seeded
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons butter
1 leek, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 1/4 quarts low-salt vegetable broth
4 oz. blue cheese, crumbled
3 tablespoons half and half
4 slices bacon, cooked to crispness and crumbled
salt and pepper

1. Heat the oven to 400 F. Spread the tomatoes in a shallow baking dish. Sprinkle with the garlic and some salt and pepper. Roast in oven for 35 minutes.

2. Heat the butter in a large sacuepan. Add the leek and carrot and season with salt and peper. Cook over low heat for about 10 minutes.

3. Stir in the stock and roasted tomatoes. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

4. Add the blue cheese, and blend all the ingredients to a smooth, creamy texture. Taste and adjust the seasoning.

5. Return the soup to heat, but do not boil. Stir in the cream and crumbled bacon. Serve with crusty bread.