Smoked Tomato And Bacon Soup

Total Time: 1 hr 30 mins Preparation Time: 30 mins Cook Time: 1 hr

Ingredients

• 3 lbs fresh tomatoes (core and cut in half)
• 1 large onion (peeled and coarsely chopped)
• 1/2 cup garlic clove
• 3 cups tomato juice
• 2 ounces fresh thyme
• 4 tablespoons tomato paste
• 5 cups vegetable stock or 5 cups chicken stock
• 2 -3 tablespoons liquid smoke
• 2 cups whipping cream
• 4 -5 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper
• 2 lbs smoked bacon (cut into small pieces and partially fried)

Recipe

• 1 preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• 2 toss tomatoes, onion, garlic cloves and fresh thyme together with the olive oil and season with a touch of salt and pepper.
• 3 place in a shallow roasting pan and roast in oven for about 20 minutes.
• 4 after add the tomato paste, stir well and return to the oven for another 10 minutes.
• 5 remove the ingredients from the roasting pan and scrape into a medium size stock pot.
• 6 add tomato juice and chicken/vegetable stock and simmer soup mix for about 20 minutes on low heat, (if soup looks like it's becoming too thick add a bit of water).
• 7 puree everything with a until smooth and strain through a semi-fine strainer.
• 8 pour mixture back into stock pot and return to heat.
• 9 bring soup to a light simmer and add sugar, cream, and liquid smoke.
• 10 season to taste with some salt and pepper.
• 11 place bacon in bottom of bowls and pour soup on top to serve.