Roasted Garlic & Shallot Potato Soup With Cheesy Croutons

Total Time: 2 hrs 5 mins Preparation Time: 30 mins Cook Time: 1 hr 35 mins

Ingredients

• 3 -5 whole garlic heads, unpeeled
• 3 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 1 1/4 teaspoons salt, divided
• 1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper, divided
• crushed red pepper flakes (for that extra kick)
• 8 -10 shallots, unpeeled
• 2 cups coarsely chopped onions
• 1 cup dry wine
• 3 cups chicken stock or 3 cups vegetable stock
• 2 cups cubed peeled baking potatoes (1/2 inch cubes or dice)
• 1 medium tomato, whole (for color only)
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
• 1 cup 2% low-fat milk
• 16 slices french baguettes (about 1/2-inch thick)
• cooking spray
• 3/4 cup crumbled blue cheese
• 2 tablespoons grated fresh parmesan cheese

Recipe

• 1 roast garlic & shallots:.
• 2 preheat oven to 400°f.
• 3 to prepare soup, remove papery skins from garlic heads (do not peel or separate cloves); cut off tops, leaving root ends intact.
• 4 place garlic in a shallow roasting pan.
• 5 drizzle 1 tablespoon oil over garlic; sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.
• 6 cover with foil; bake at 400°f for 20 minutes.
• 7 add shallots to pan; drizzle 1 tablespoon oil over shallots; sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.
• 8 cover and bake at 400°f for 25 minutes or until tender and browned.
• 9 cool.
• 10 squeeze garlic to extract pulp; peel shallots.
• 11 discard skins.
• 12 set garlic pulp and shallots aside.
• 13 the soup:.
• 14 heat 1 1/2 tablespoons oil & crushed red pepper flakes (if using) in a dutch oven over medium heat; add onion & tomato (if it falls apart that is ok).
• 15 cover and cook 15 minutes or until lightly browned, stirring occasionally.
• 16 add garlic pulp, peeled shallots, and wine.
• 17 reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, 5 minutes.
• 18 stir in stock, potato, and thyme; bring to a boil.
• 19 cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes or until potato is tender.
• 20 cool slightly.
• 21 place half of potato mixture in a blender; process until smooth.
• 22 pour pureed mixture into a large bowl.
• 23 repeat procedure with remaining potato mixture.
• 24 return pureed mixture to pan; stir in milk, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper into pureed mixture.
• 25 cook over medium heat 5 minutes or until thoroughly heated.
• 26 preheat oven to 400°f
• 27 prepare croutons:.
• 28 place bread slices in a single layer on a large baking sheet; lightly coat tops of bread with cooking spray.
• 29 bake at 400°f for 8 minutes or until lightly browned; sprinkle cheeses evenly over bread slices & bake 3 minutes or until cheese melts.
• 30 serve warm on the side with soup; and a salad of greens.