Cream of Tomato Soup with homemade vegetable stock

👨‍🍳 Method

For the Sheet-Pan Roasted Vegetables

1. 1
   Preheat the oven to 200°C (390°F).

   Oven

   💡Put things in the oven only once it's reached temperature, after the heating light has gone off: an oven that hasn't reached temperature changes baking times, and the bake burns outside or stays underbaked.
2. 2
   Arrange the tomatoes, onion and garlic in a baking pan, drizzle with the oil and season with salt and black pepper.

   Baking pan
3. 3
   Roast the tomatoes, onion and garlic in a hot oven (200°C / 390°F) 30–35 minutes, until the tomatoes softens and browns slightly at the edges.

   OvenBakeware

To assemble

1. 4
   Put the onion, carrot, celery, parsley, garlic, bay leaves and thyme in a large pot with the cold water.

   Large pot

   💡Start with cold water: the vegetables release their flavor slowly as the water heats up.
2. 5
   Bring to a boil over high heat and skim off the foam.

   Stove
3. 6
   Turn down to medium-low heat and simmer uncovered 30–45 minutes.

   Stove

   💡A gentle simmer, not a boil: a hard boil dries the food out and clouds it, a slow simmer cooks it evenly.
4. 7
   Strain the stock through a fine sieve.

   Fine sieve
5. 8
   Transfer the roasted tomatoes, onion and garlic cloves to the pot, add the stock and bring to a boil.

   StovePot
6. 9
   Turn down the heat and simmer 5 minutes.

   Stove
7. 10
   Blend with an immersion blender until smooth and creamy.

   Stick blender
8. 11
   Add the cream, smoked paprika and sugar, season with salt and black pepper and heat another 5 minutes.

   Stove

   💡The cream or cheese goes in after blending, over low heat: a hard boil after adding them can make the soup separate.
9. 12
   Sprinkle the leaves over each bowl.
10. 13
    Drizzle a little olive oil over each bowl.
11. 14
    Serve with crispy croutons.