Roasted Tomato and Pepper Soup

I have never made soup before...until now. The other day I was watching food network and I saw a recipe for a simple roasted tomato soup. As I watched the host prepare the soup I thought to myself "hey, this isn't so hard...I can do this". It turned out the host was right; the soup was easy to make and the only difficulty was waiting for it to cool down a little before putting it in the blender. Best of all, it had a great tomato and pepper flavor and you could really feel the effects of the roasting prior to making the soup.

Roasted Tomato and Pepper Soup

• 8 Roma tomatoes, sliced in half with insides scooped out
• 4 bell peppers, sliced in half
• 8 garlic cloves
• 1 medium onion, peeled and quartered
• 6 cups vegetable or chicken stock (I actually used Clamato juice to give it even more of a tomato flavor)
• 1 can tomato paste
• Olive oil
• Balsamic vinegar
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Optional: Chili pepper flakes
• Optional: Basil or cilantro for garnish

1. Arrange the tomatoes and peppers on a shallow roasting pan, skin side up. Add the garlic cloves and onion to the pan as well.
2. Sprinkle some salt and pepper then lightly drizzle some olive oil and balsamic vinegar over the pan ingredients.
3. Roast at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 40-50 minutes. Take the pan out once the skins are slightly charred.
4. In a soup pot, warm about 2 tbsp olive oil over medium heat and then mix in the tomato paste.
5. Add the roasted ingredients to the pot, including all the juices left on the pan, and stir well to combine.
6. Add the vegetable or chicken stock and then reduce heat to low and allow the soup to simmer for 20 minutes. Optional: you can add some chili flakes to soup to give it a little kick...just don't go overboard otherwise it will overpower the actual flavor of the soup.
7. Transfer the soup to a blender and puree. *It is important that you let the soup cool slightly before blending it and do not fill the blender more than halfway.* The best way to do this is to blend 1/3 of the soup at at time and allowing each batch to cool in the blender for 5 minutes before proceeding. Pulse it a couple of times first, then continue to puree. 
8. Pour blended soup back into soup pot and reheat. Garnish with some cilantro or basil.