Roasted Tomato Soup with Garlic and Chickpeas

North of town there is a dirt road that goes up to a water reservoir located on Starr Creek. The source is the culmination of surface waters within separate watersheds situated within the Siuslaw National Forest. We had heard about Starr Creek several times and decided to take the walk up and check it out ourselves.

Along the way the sun was just breaking through the fog on the coast. The light that came between the trees was intense. Sword ferns flanked both sides of the road in shady spots. The woods were very quiet.......

We walked along until we heard the sound of the creek. Ahead we could see a fenced in area that looked quite out of place in the middle of the woods.

About that same time, a good friend of my husband's sent us this link "http://www.treehugger.com", from editor and creator, Jaymi Heimbuch. What sold me was the idea of roasting the tomatoes and garlic together to really intensify their flavors. The chickpeas added an underlying nut-like flavor that really worked flavor and texture wise.

Ingredients:

6 cups of tomatoes, with their juice
1 head garlic (separated and peeled)
1 to 2 tablespoons of olive oil
6 cups water or vegetables stock (I used 4 cups water)
1 can chickpeas (drained and rinsed)
Basil leaves chopped
1/2 cup of cream or half and half (did not use)

To prepare:

Preheat oven to 250°F.

Place tomatoes and their juice in an oven-proof casserole dish. Add garlic and drizzle with olive oil. Roast approx 2 1/2 to 3 hours until garlic is soft and tomatoes are cooked until the liquid is absorbed. Remove from oven and let rest.

Pour tomatoes in a heavy soup pot and add water and chickpeas. This is where it differed for me. I roasted 3 1/2 hours and still had lots of juice so I only added 4 cups of water verses the 6 the recipe called for. Puree soup with immersion blender. Add cream if adding, garnish with basil. Enjoy!

P.S. Omit cream for vegan option.