Its September. Keenly aware that autumn is nosing around the corner, the garden tomatoes and basil are having their final fling with the sunshine. I’ve been yearning for hearty, homemade tomato soup; not the watery, red liquid from a can, but a bowlful of thick, textured soup, filled with bits of charred tomatoes, flecks of vibrant green basil, and little pieces of sweet, sautéd onions.

Thanks to a recipe inspiration from Ambitious Kitchen, I have made four batches of this soup in the past week: one container went to a friend who was sick, two batches were served at our church’s luncheon for college kids, and Larry and I are savoring the last batch, using crusty bread to slide around in the bottom of our bowls to capture every last drop of goodness.

This recipe serves four, but you might want to double it so that you have some leftovers. I suspect that the texture of roma or plum tomatoes would work the best; I used a small, garden variety of tomato and it was delicious! You can process the roasted tomatoes, garlic, sautéd onions, and basil in a food processor or use an immersion blender if you are lucky enough to have one. If you only have a blender, I’m sure that will work as well.

Roasted Tomato Basil Soup

4 lbs. tomatoes, roma, plum or small garden variety (that was about 15 tomatoes for my batch)

8 cloves of garlic, peeled

2-3 Tbsp. olive oil

salt and freshly ground pepper

2 yellow onions, thinly sliced

1/2 c. packed basil leaves

1/2 tsp. dried oregano

1 c. water or vegetarian broth (or chicken broth)

1 Tbsp. of butter

Cut the tomatoes in half, removing the core. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper (for easy clean up later). Place the halved tomatoes and the garlic cloves on the pan and drizzle generously with the olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Roast in a 400 degree oven for 40-45 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for at least 10 minutes.

While the tomatoes are roasting, prepare the onions. Slice them thin; heat a skillet over med-low and drizzle in a bit of olive oil. Add the onions, stirring to coat. Allow the onions to slowly cook and caramelize, stirring every five minutes for about 20 minutes. They are done when they are golden brown and soft.

Start by scooping the roasted garlic and a few tomatoes into the food processor to be sure that garlic gets well processed. Next add the rest of the tomatoes and all that lovely juice collected in the baking sheet; process until smooth. If your food processor is full at this point, empty the contents into a pot. Otherwise, if you have room, continue by adding the onions and the fresh basil leaves and process until smooth. You can go as smooth as you want; I personally like a little texture in the soup. Place everything in a soup pot over low heat. Add the 1/2 tsp. dried oregano, the vegetable broth, and a pat of butter. Let simmer for ten minutes before serving. Check to see if more salt and pepper is needed. Pass freshly grated parmesan cheese to sprinkle on when you serve the bowls of soup. Serves four.