Roasted Tomato Soup

My Mother-in-law has a lot of tomato plants which have been producing a LOT of tomatoes this year and she has been kindly sharing them with me so I have been trying a lot of different tomato recipes.  I also received an immersion blender from my Mom for my birthday - so the logical thing to make is tomato soup!  I looked at a couple recipes, but didn't love any of them, so just kind of did my own thing.  I really liked how it turned out and will definitely make it again. It was great with grilled cheese on a cool late summer/early fall evening.  
 

Roasted Tomato Soup
From: Elizabeth

Ingredients:
3 lbs of Tomatoes (I used a mixture of beefsteak and cherry)
3 large garlic cloves, unpeeled
1/4 cup onions, sliced
5-6 sprigs fresh Thyme
1/2 - 1 tsp Italian seasonings
5-6 leaves fresh basil
5-6 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
Olive Oil
Salt and pepper

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut tomatoes in half (or quarters if they are large) and squeeze out some of the seeds.  Lay out on cookie sheet with cut side up. Place garlic and onion slices in between the tomatoes. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt, thyme and Italian seasonings.

2. Roast tomatoes for 30 minutes, removing the garlic around 20 minutes if getting soft. After 30 minutes place tomatoes and garlic (after unpeeling) in a large pot.  Add chicken broth and blend tomato mixture into the broth with immersion blender.  I made mine quite smooth but next time might try it with leaving some tomato chunks in.  If you don't have an immersion blender you can use the food processor before adding the tomatoes to the pot.

3. Heat soup and let simmer for 20 minutes. Season with Salt and pepper to taste.  Stir in basil and cream and turn off heat.