Spicy Tomato Soup

A hard requirement to make in the fall, alongside a glass of wine and a grilled cheese. Pro Tip: Take some of the extra cheese from the grilled cheese and put it on top of the bowl of soup.

Equipment

• Large Pot
• Blender, Immersion blender, or food processor

Time

About an hour and a half

Ingredients

Name	Amount
tomatoes	6
garlic	2 heads
bell pepper	1
jalepenño	2
thai chilli peppers	2
olive oil	1-2 tablespoons
tomato paste	Just one container, they're always small
chicken stock	16 oz
yellow onion	1 small
bacon	3 or 4 slices
salt	to taste
pepper	to taste
oregano	to taste
basil	to taste
cream	1 small container

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 400°
2. Slice the tomatoes in half and lay them skin side down on a baking sheet. Cut the top off of the heads of garlic and leave the skin on, exposing the tops of the cloves. Slice your peppers in half, and the bell pepper in quarters so they can lay flat, skin side down. Drizzle a little olive oil on your veggies, then season generously with salt and pepper.
3. Bake the tomatoes and peppers for 45 minutes.
4. Dice your onion into rough peices. You don't need to be amazingly pretty at it, you're going to blend it later
5. In a pot, fry your bacon in a half cup of water (this lets the meat cook a little before the fat starts to crisp). Once the water has all evaporated, remove the bacon and put it on some paper towels.
6. In the remaining bacon fat (but add a little olive oil if there isn't enough), cook the onion on medium low heat until it starts to caramelize, probably about 20 minutes, but be sure to lower the heat if it looks like they're cooking too quickly. Dice the bacon roughly, then add it back to the pot.
7. Add the tomatoes, peppers, onions, bacon, and 2 tablespoons of tomato paste all to a blender, or the pot it cooked in if you're using an immersion blender. Take the heads of Garlic and (either use thongs or let it cool first) squeeze out the cooked garlic. Add a few leaves of basil, and blend the mixture together.
8. Add a splash of cream and mix up again, then add more cream, oregano, salt, pepper, basil, tomato paste and whatever else you're feeling until you like the flavor.
9. Make a Grilled Cheese, and enjoy!