Sunday Soup: Creamy Roasted Tomato and Garlic

This recipe features another Karoun product - Labne (kefir) cheese. Labne is made by draining whey from low fat yogurt. It is slightly thinner than cream cheese in texture and tangy in taste - like buttermilk. It is works well as a replacement for heavy cream in this recipe but is also good on its own, alongside fruit or as a dip for pita chips.

It's a really delicious product. My family gobbled up the two containers I was sent in no time : )

(Yield: 4 servings)
Ingredients:
5 plum tomatoes, halved, cored and seeded
4 large garlic cloves
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 yellow onion, diced
1 tsp tomato paste
1 tsp granulated sugar
1 bay leaf
3 c chicken broth
1 generous handful fresh basil
2 tbsp Karoun labne cheese
Olive oil, salt, pepper

Preheat oven to 375F.

Place tomatoes and garlic on a baking sheet, season with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil. Coat evenly. Separate tomatoes to one side and drizzle with vinegar. Roast 20-25 min. Set aside.Heat one tbsp olive oil in a medium soup pot on low heat. Add onion and saute until transluscent, about 5 min. Add tomatoes, garlic, paste, sugar, bay leaf, 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper. Stir. Add broth, turn heat up, cover with lid and bring to a boil. Then reduce heat to simmer and crack lid. Simmer 20 min, stirring occasionally. Turn heat off and remove bay leaf. Add torn basil leaves and cheese. Puree with immersion blender. Adjust seasonings if necessary.(The lighting was awful. The soup is much redder than it looks here.)