Roasted Tomato Basil Soup

By the name of the recipe, you'd think that basil was the only herb that goes into this soup. There are certainly quite a few strong flavors in this batch, notwithstanding the crab stock I used in lieu of chicken stock. At the moment it is simmering on the stove and looks quite normal. Hope it tastes okay. I'll just have to wait and see if anyone notices that crab stock was used or if anyone can tell. When I made butternut squash soup the other day with crab stock, I couldn't tell the difference. Original recipe ratio is from Ina Garten's The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook; what lies below is close to but not really. It reflects ingredients that I had on hand. This version is not vegetarian.

Ingredients

1 quart of crab stock (can substitute with chicken broth, vegetable broth)
1-2 cups of fresh basil leaves, whole
2 large beefsteak tomatoes, diced
6 medium roma tomatoes, diced
1 (14 oz) can of organic diced tomatoes
1/2 large yellow onion, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
small fresh basil leaves, to garnish
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes ( don't know what this really is, so I used chili pepper flakes)
1/2 tsp dried thyme or 1 tsp fresh thyme
olive oil, for roasting the tomatoes
sea salt, to taste
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1/4 c organic heavy cream, optional
pinch of baking soda and/or sugar to balance the acidity of the tomatoes (optional)

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

1. In a 9" x 13" glass baking dish, arrange tomatoes cut-side down in a single layer. Drizzle a fair amount (up to 1/4 cup) of good quality olive oil on top and sprinkle with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Bake for 40 minutes. It's okay if the skins get charred, that's what it means to roast a vegetable.

2. While the tomatoes are roasting... In an 8-quart heavy-bottomed pot, add olive oil, butter, red pepper flakes, garlic and onions. Let the onions sweat for at least 10 minutes over medium heat. It's okay if the onions start to caramelize, that will add a nutty-sweet taste to the soup.

3. Add the tomatoes and stock and bring to a boil. Let simmer uncovered for 40 minutes.

4. If you want to see some texture in this soup, take out the basil leaves before taking an immersion blender to the soup; otherwise, it'll just be green bits of something in the soup. This can be served hot or cold; except if you are having dinner guests, I don't advise making this soup 1-2 hours before they arrive since the soup will not chill properly if serving it up cold.

Blend soup until smooth. The soup still tasted acidic after the tiny bit of sugar and baking soda that I added. I also added some heavy cream and blended that in before serving.

5. Serve the soup in bowls and garnish with fresh basil.