Mushroom Tomato Bisque

These are the ingredients for a wonderful bisque! The recipe is from "Taste of Home" and was in the Columbus Dispatch food section last week. I saved it, thinking I would make this when we are able to get fresh tomatoes that are worth eating. As luck would have it, I went to Cleveland's West Side Market with Bob (I'll be posting on that outing soon!) and we brought home six pounds of gorgeous roma tomatoes. What time is it? IT'S SOUP TIME!

So here are the tomatoes (relax, I tripled the recipe) all ready to go into the oven for roasting. Aren't they lovely? They were so darn pretty that I almost didn't want to roast them...almost, I said.


Here they are after roasting. Mmmmm, can't you almost smell them? The garlic and basil just create an aroma...I think the cats were even drooling!


After putting the tomatoes and all of the pan drippings into a bowl, I used my trusty stick blender (Aunt Bea loves hers, too!) and smoothed out all of the tomatoes and seasonings. This was a bowl full of fresh tomato roasted treasure worth more than gold at this time of year!


Next it was time to saute the sliced mushrooms and onions.


After you add the tomato puree to your sauted mushrooms & onions, you bring it to a boil. Once the mixture comes to a boil, take it off of the heat and add the cream. (I used a combination of heavy cream and 2% milk.)



The bisque goes into a bowl, garnish with fresh grated parmesan and there you have a little taste of what heaven must be like! (The picture does not do this justice. Sorry, I'm still a novice at food photography.) The sliced mushrooms add a certain earthiness that is such a wonderful addition. Oh my goodness is this good! I think if you served this with a hunk of garlic bread and a glass of wine, well you'd just have one of those personal "moments". Don't ya think?



Mushroom Tomato Bisque
“Taste of Home” magazine – featured in Columbus Dispatch

Ingredients:

1 ½ pounds plum tomatoes, halved lengthwise
5 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon dried basil
½ teaspoon dried oregano (I used marjoram, just personal preference)
½ teaspoon ground pepper
½ pound sliced fresh mushrooms
½ cup finely chopped sweet onions
1 ¼ cups chicken broth
1/3 to ½ cup tomato paste
Pinch of sugar (optional)
¾ cup heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Place tomatoes cut side down in a greased 15-by-10-inch baking pan. Brush with 3 tablespoons oil. Combine garlic, salt, basil, oregano and pepper. Sprinkle over tomatoes.

Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until the edges are well-browned. Cool slightly.

Transfer the tomatoes and pan drippings to a blender. Cover and process until well blended, about 1 minute.

In a large saucepan, sauté mushrooms and onion in remaining 2 tablespoons oi8l until tender, 5 to 8 minutes. Stir in broth, tomato paste and pureed tomato mixture. Add a pinch of sugar, if desired. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat. Stir in cream.

Ladle soup into bowls. Sprinkle with Parmesan.