Tomato Basalmic Soup

I'm not a huge soup fan (I really only like the soups that I can dip bread into!) but I gave this a try to appease my husband who has to put up with chicken every other night. This recipe looks a little strange on paper- it's soup that is baked and then blended. But the result is nice.

Ingredients:

1 cup less-sodium beef broth, divided
1 tablespoon brown sugar
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
1 cup coarsely chopped onion
5 garlic cloves
2 (28-ounce) cans whole tomatoes, drained
Cooking spray
¾ cup half-and-half
Cracked black pepper (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Combine ½ cup of broth, sugar, vinegar, and soy sauce in a small bowl. Place onion, garlic, and tomatoes in a 13 x 9-inch baking pan coated with cooking spray. Pour broth mixture over tomato mixture.Bake at 500 degrees for 50 minutes or until vegetables are lightly browned.Place tomato mixture in a blender. Add remaining ½ cup broth and half-and-half, and process until smooth. Strain mixture through a sieve into a bowl; discard solids. Garnish with cracked black pepper, if desired.

Verdict: This was good! Different method of making it, but it was certainly easy. Especially when you can use canned tomatoes. I admit that I skipped the whole seive thing after the first bowl though. The above picture demonstrates the difference. On the left, soup unstrainted. On the right, after it goes through the seive. It tastes the same either way, it's just personal preference if you like you soup smooth or slightly chunky.