Comfort Food Spicy Tomato Soup

What You Need
1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 small onion (chopped)
2 garlic cloves (crushed)
coarse salt and ground pepper
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
4 cups roasted tomatoes (canned, jarred or made by you see recipe below)
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 cup cream ( half n half or milk is fine too)
1 Tbsp unsalted butter
Fine mesh sieve or food mill
Blender
Additional, your choice of one or all :Fresh cilantro leaves, croutons and red-pepper flakes, for serving

Let’s Make It! In a saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is soft (about 12 minutes). Add cumin and coriander; cook, stirring, until fragrant. Add tomatoes, sugar, and 1/2 cup of cream and 1/2 cup of water water, stir well and  cook until warmed through. In batches, puree soup in a blender until smooth (use caution when blending hot liquids). Strain through a fine-mesh sieve. Stir in butter and season with salt and pepper. Serve soup with crusty croutons, chopped cilantro (or cilantro leaves) and red-pepper flakes.
Serves 4

Roasted Tomatoes
2 cans (28 oz. each) whole peeled tomatoes
3 garlic cloves (crushed)
3 Tbsp olive oil
Large roasting pan

Before You start: Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Let’s Make it! Place tomatoes in a large roasting pan. With your hands or a large fork, roughly tear each tomato into 1-inch strips. Add garlic and drizzle oil over top. Roast until mixture thickens and holds a trail when you run a knife through it60-90 minutes) rotate the roasting pan halfway through the cooking time. Use immediately, or let cool, then refrigerate in an airtight container, up to 1 week.