This one takes a little prep in order to really make it work, but the depth of flavor is worth it in the end. We did this in the summer when there are many, large, ripe, beautiful, fresh tomatoes in season. Which also helps a great deal. It comes from Kayla Hoang in NYTimes Cooking but has a few simple modifications done to it.
For this you’ll need: 4-5 large tomatoes (cut into 1/8ths, keep juice and seeds), 2 jalapeño peppers (seeded and sliced), 4 garlic cloves (smashed and peeled), 1 medium onion (cut into 1″ chunks), 3 Tbsp tomato paste, 5 Tbsp olive oil + 1/2 cup olive oil, 1/2 tsp dried basil, 4 cups vegetable stock, 1 tsp sugar, 3 Tbsp + more for serving heavy cream, salt, pepper.
The night before (if possible), place the sliced jalapeños in a jam jar and cover them in olive oil. Screw on the top and set aside overnight.
In a Dutch oven combined the tomatoes (and their juices), chopped onion, crushed garlic, tomato paste, 5 Tbsp olive oil, dried basil and some salt and pepper. Stir them all together with a wooden spoon so everything is coated. Add in the jalapeños (use as much as you need to hit your own level of spiciness, we used about 2/3 of them) with a little bit (no more than 2 Tbsp) of their oil. Stir everything together once again and place uncovered into a cool oven.
Set the oven to 450 degrees and let the tomatoes cook as the oven comes to temperature and roast for 30 mins. Stir them once about halfway through. Once everything has started to breakdown, remove the pot from the oven and place onto the stove top over high heat. Add the stock and sugar. Stir well and bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and allow to cook, uncovered, until the tomatoes are starting to break apart, about 10 mins.
Turn off the heat, add 3 Tbsp of cream, and little more pepper (and/or jalapeños if you have some left), and then blend everything together using a blender (in batches) or a hand mixer.
Season once again with salt, pepper and/or more jalapeños/oil or even crushed red pepper, to taste.
Serve warm with a few drops of cream and the jalapeño oil.
Dinner at Our Place 