Creamy roasted tomato soup

Slice the tomatoes and fill a tray with them, starting with two pounds and filling any room left, since they shrink as they cook.

Add a quartered onion and as many garlic cloves as you like; drizzle with plenty of olive oil and season with salt, black pepper and crushed red pepper flakes.

Roast in a 450F oven about 45 minutes, until the tomatoes are melting and lightly charred.

Cool at room temperature, then blend in two or three batches with a little water or vegetable broth until very smooth.

Optional: freeze the blended mixture in freezer-safe containers for up to three months.

Transfer to a pot; add two heaping tablespoons of tomato paste, sugar to taste, a little salt and crushed dried basil; cook, stirring, until the paste is blended in. Adjust salt and sugar.

Heat through until hot; stir in about a cup to a cup and a half of heavy whipping cream and finely chopped fresh basil, and serve.

Variation: to need less sugar, use less tomato paste, or roast carrots or red bell peppers with the tomatoes; honey can replace some of the sugar.