roasted creamy tomato soup

It's too hot for soup, really.  But my dad brought us these marvellous heirloom tomatoes from my Grandma's garden.  I would probably describe them as perfect and that's saying a lot because I don't even like tomatoes.  When you cut into these, they are meaty, deep red and juicy - with hardly any seeds at all.  My Dad calls them "Gigantiums" and although they are humongous-baseball-sized-tomatoes, I'm a little sceptical that is their actual name (sorry Dad ;).  What I do know however, is they are authentic tomatoes; the seeds were smuggled straight off the vine from Italy. 

So that's why we are enjoying homemade tomato soup (yes, oddly enough I like the soup but not fresh tomatoes) on a such a nice warm day.

My Grandma makes the BEST tomato soup so naturally I was going to copy her, however late in the game I realized I was missing a few key things so I decided to wing it, sans recipe, and it turned out pretty nice.     

First I sautéed one finely chopped onion and two garlic cloves in butter while roasting the tomatoes in the oven.  

Then I removed the skins and added the tomatoes to the sauteed mixture.  Let simmer.  Add basil, salt and pepper. Simmer some more.  

Remove from heat and add cream and a tablespoon of parmesan cheese.  And finally, blend 3/4 of the mixture until smooth, return to pot and enjoy!  Perfect with a fresh salad and grilled cheese sandwiches.  

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Fun fact: my Grandma harvested around 100 pounds of tomatoes from her garden!  Can you imagine?!