Some things just naturally go together…like peanut butter and jelly, hot dogs and baseball and tomato soup and grilled cheese.  I’m not talking about soup from a can either (although that’s how many of us experienced our first tomato soup).  How about real homemade roasted tomato soup topped off with a Parmesan crisp (literally grilled cheese).  What would you think if I told you that I was giving away some great stuff from Sur La Table to help you make this easy tomato soup?

Isn’t it a cruel twist of fate that cold and dreary winter days seem to be the time when we want the comforting foods like tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches?  Cheese and bread are always in season, but tomatoes hit their peak late summer.  Mother Nature didn’t really help us out much with this one, did she? Since I live in California, I can still get local tomatoes this time of year, they aren’t great, but I can still get them.  I suspect that all of you living in those snow covered areas of the country occasionally break from the ‘seasonal only’ routine and pick up some tomatoes to fill a little craving for summertime.  Unfortunately, once you bite into them you soon realize that a tomato is one of those things that you really shouldn’t eat unless it’s in season.

Well, this easy tomato soup will help remedy both of those problems The trick is to roast those anemic winter tomatoes.  Roasting the tomatoes concentrates their tomatoey goodness which allows this soup to have the rich tomato flavor that you crave this time of year, but can’t necessarily get from the fresh fruits.  And homemade tomato soup allows you to control how much salt goes into the mixture, which is a bit of a concern for most people with regards to canned soup.

Making this roasted tomato soup doesn’t take much time and only five ingredients (okay, seven if you include salt and pepper).  By now, you should know that I really enjoy making my own soups and that it doesn’t take much time or effort to do so.  There’s the corn and crab chowder and roasted cauliflower and leek soup that have rich and complex flavors but are almost as easy to make as opening a can and re-heating.  And what completes a bowl of homemade tomato soup better than grilled cheese?  Nothing in my book.  But instead of making a sandwich, why not just ‘grill’ the cheese.  Top off the soup with some of those Parmesan Crisps I posted the other day?

So now that you know how easy it is to make your own homemade tomato soup, what are you waiting for?  Oh yeah…that little giveaway that I promised you.  A few months ago, I bought a 2 quart saucier pan from Sur La Table.  I am totally in love with it!  In fact, I use it so much that I got in touch with them and asked if I could give one away to my readers.  It’s a pot that’s just the right size for so many things.  It’s not too big and it’s not too small.  It’s got the added benefit of being a saucier – which means instead of straight sides, it’s got a curved edge around the bottom of the pan.  That’s means there are no angles for your sauces to get stuck in and burn.  The cool people over at Sur La Table thought that since I was doing this giveaway around Valentine’s day, that they would also throw in the cutest Valentine’s themed dishcloth and a red (natch) spatula too.  How awesome is that?

Relationship Advice

The weather’s kind of crummy right now and I know many of you are stuck in the house because of it.  Have you gotten to the point where you can’t even be in the same room as your partner anymore? (Craig is sick at the moment, so I’m going through a bit of this myself right now.)  Have you run out of ideas of things to do with each other (and water boarding them is not what I’m thinking about)?  In the spirit of the upcoming Valentine’s Day, I thought I would pass along some cute/fun ideas that you can do together.

1. Take a shower or a bubble bath together.
2. Make a cake together…then frost it.
3. Play a board game together.  (Craig beats me at Monopoly and I womp on him in Scrabble)
4. Turn out the lights, turn off the TV and radio and eat dinner by candle light.
5. Play a game of cards while you both sit in your underwear.
6. Take turns reading to one another.
7. Turn up the music and dance in the middle of the living room.
8. Get on the internet and plan your summer vacation.
9. Play a silly video game together.
10. Build a blanket fort, climb in with your favorite snack foods and enjoy.

So at this point I’m sure you’re wondering how to win this great package.  Well, it’s easy!  There are lots of chances to win.  For starters, the contest will run all this week (from 1/31/2011 – midnight PST 2/6/2011).  All of my recipes this week will be made using this 2 quart saucier (I told you I love it!)

For one entry, leave a comment on my posts (one comment per post will count).

For another entry, follow me on Facebook My Man’s Belly

You can sign up for my newsletter for an additional entry My Man’s Belly Newsletter

For another entry, follow Sur La Table on Twitter @Sur_La_Table

When you sign up for any of these, come back here and leave it in a comment.  You must have a valid e-mail address tied to your comment.  i will e-mail the winner and you will have 24 hours to get back to me.  If you don’t, I will pick a new winner.  This contest is open to residents of the United States only.

Welcome to My Man's Belly! Leave me a comment and let me know what you think about the site or if there's a recipe you'd like to see here. Have a great day.

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