Roasted Garlic Tomato Soup

Since the cool weather finally settled in Dallas, I have found myself making more and more soups for dinner. Part of it is the way soup really warms you up on cold, windy days. Another reason is that Robert and I have both suffered bouts of head colds recently, and nothing helps me feel better when I'm sick than a nice hot bowl of soup.

This soup reminds me a lot of the tomato basil soup served in La Madeline, but richer as the result of the roasted garlic. I serve this soup with parmesan toasts, a grown up replacement for the grilled cheese sandwiches that paired with tomato soup growing up. This soup takes some time, but it's really simple to put together which makes it great for even weeknight dinners.

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Roasted Garlic Tomato Soup


Ingredients
1 head of garlic
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
1 large carrot, diced
1 celery rib, diced
1/4 large yellow onion, diced
1 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes
2 1/2 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
1 teaspoon sugar
2 cups half and half
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, divided
loaf of french bread

Instructions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Cut off the top third of the head of garlic.

 Drizzle with a little olive oil,

 and wrap up in foil. Roast in the oven for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, melt the butter in a pot

 and add the carrots,

 onions,

 and celery.

 Sweat the vegetables for 15 minutes.

Add the crushed tomatoes,

 basil,

 and sugar. Stir to combine, bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes.

When the garlic is done, remove from the oven and let cool. The garlic should be soft and slightly brown.

 Squeeze the garlic out of the paper skin

 and add to the pot

 along with a 1/4 cup of the parmesan cheese.

Recover and simmer for 15 more minutes.

Carefully transfer the soup to a blender and puree until smooth.

 Pour back in the pot and add the half and half.

 Stir to combine and return to a boil.

To make the parmesan toasts, preheat the broiler.
Brush bread slices with olive oil

and toast for about 3-5 minutes, or until browned.

 Flip the sliced over and brush with a little more olive oil

 and sprinkle with the remaining parmesan cheese.

 Return to the oven and toast for another 2-3 minutes until the bread is browned and the cheese melted.

Serve with a bowl of soup for a delicious meal on a cold winter night.
Source: Adapted from the Homesick Texan

Summer Veggie and Chicken Pizza

So it is the middle of the summer. We have hit day 26 of 100 plus degree temperatures in a row. I have forgotten what rain is like. I know, I live in Texas, I should expect this in the summer, but for some reason, this summer feels hotter and longer and I am just ready for it to be over! So, in an effort to look at the bright side of things, I made a summer grilled veggie pizza the other night, and indeed, it helped soothe my summer woes. It was fresh, light and yummy! A perfect lazy Saturday night dinner. I hope that you enjoy it too!

I utilized a mandolin to cut my veggies. It is an essential tool to have in a cooking kitchen, as it slices very thin, evenly and quickly (and more safely than I can cut with my poor knife skills). I also used a pizza stone, it honestly does make a difference in the texture of the crust and the timing of the cooking. Because you pre-heat the oven with the pizza stone inside, the stone is evenly heated, and therefore, when you place the pizza on the stone, the pizza is also evenly heated and thus no spots that are over or underdone! Both of these cooking devices were given to me by my mom! Thanks mom!

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Ingredients:
1 Pillsbury pizza crust
1 thinly sliced and grilled zucchini
1 thinly sliced and grilled squash
1/2 cup of sweet corn
2 breasts of grilled chicken, cut into bite sized squares
1/4 cup of reduced balsamic vinegar for drizzling
1/2 cup sliced Parmesan cheese for sprinkling

Steps:
1. Grill the thinly sliced zucchini and squash (I used the indoor grill as it was just too hot outside). You just want to get light grill marks so that the veggies start to soften and gain some flavor. I brushed mine with olive oil and sprinkled salt and pepper.
2. Grill the chicken and dice into bite sized pieces.
3. Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees. If using a pizza stone, then place the pizza stone in the oven during pre-heating.
4. Once the oven has preheated, carefully remove the pizza stone from the oven with oven mitts (or just use a cookie sheet with non-stick spray or cornmeal to prevent sticking) and unroll the pizza dough onto the stone with some cornmeal between the stone and dough.
5. Quickly add the prepared ingredients: Evenly spread out the zucchini, squash and chicken. Then sprinkle the corn over everything and then finish with a heavy drizzle of reduced balsamic vinegar and shaved Parmesan cheese.

6. Bake for about 10 minutes, or until lightly browned on the edges.
7. Enjoy right away on a hot summer night!

What? Me...spoiled? 

 Puppy tug of war!

 Action shot!

I think they both won! They took long naps after...so perhaps that means I won!

Sometimes you just need Champagne and Pizza!

 According to Bunker..."Sometimes, you just need Champagne and Pizza." So true!

We celebrated our one year anniversary of living in our beautiful Dallas home. We were so happy to come back home (we both grew up in Dallas..about 4 blocks away from each other...we now live 5 and 8 blocks away from both sets of parents) after two years in lovely North Carolina. Our years in North Carolina were wonderful, as we lived in truly one of the most breathtaking places in the United States and made life-long friends. People whom I love dearly and am so thankful that our lives crossed paths. People who now live so far away, but we will always be close in our hearts.

On the front steps the day we bought our house last year! 

Within this year in our new house we experienced the heights of joy and the depths of despair. Our house seemed to both celebrate our joys and then cradle us in safety in our despair. It was within this year, with happiness and sadness, that this house became our sweet and loved home.

I suppose we could have made some fancy meal to mark this year anniversary, but that is just not the character of our home. Our home is soft and comfortable, fresh and yet full of character (it was built in the 1930s), but at the same time stately and tailored. We decided our house translated perfectly food-wise into Champagne and pizza! Bubbly and fresh, comforting and classic. Have you ever tried to translate the feel of your house into food? Try it, and celebrate your house, your home that shelters you from the world and holds so many of your precious memories.

 Our house today...ps...it is 100 degrees outside...

This pizza is great because it uses things that I usually have on hand. Pizza is so versatile, you can put whatever you like on it, and it should turn out pretty tasty. I apologize for the slim number of photographs...I was distracted...we opened the champagne a tad early!

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 Ingredients:
1 Pillsbury Thin Crust Pizza Dough
1 Package (about 8 slices) of Prosciutto
1 14.5 Ounce Can of Tomatoes (diced or whole, it really does not matter), pureed
1 Package of Sliced Baby Bella Mushrooms, sauteed until they soften and loose most of their moisture (so as not to make the pizza soggy)
10 Slivers of Gouda Cheese
10 Slivers of Parmesan Cheese
Salt and Pepper to taste

Steps:
1. Unroll the Pillsbury thin crust pizza dough onto a greased cookie sheet or sil-pad.
2. Puree the 14.5 ounce can of tomatoes until it is very smooth. You can add whatever spices and herbs you wish to this puree.
3. Cook the mushrooms over medium-high heat in a small pan for about 10 minutes, until they become a rich dark brown and have lost most of their moisture.
4. Using mandolin, cut about 10 slivers of each the Gouda and the Parmesan Cheeses (you should use your favorite cheeses).
5. Spread the tomato sauce evenly onto the pizza dough, leaving a nice area at the sides for the crust.
6. Top the sauce with the mushroom spread evenly across the surface.
7.  Tear the Prosciutto into slightly smaller pieces and evenly distribute across the pizza.
8. Spread the cheeses evenly on top.
9. Add salt and pepper to taste.
10. Bake at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes, until the crust is lightly browning and the cheese is bubbly.
11. Enjoy with your favorite bubbly of choice!

The pizza right before we put it into the oven.

Fun playtime with toys from a care package from Cort's best friend in North Carolina, Marylebone, who now lives in New Jersey..far too far away!

Puppy love.