Lentil Soup with Roasted Tomatoes
The key to this soup is the roasted tomatoes and garlic, which add a tremendous depth of flavor. I came up with this soup (which is really just a variation on standard lentil soup) because I've recently become obsessed with roasted tomatoes, particularly slowly roasted tomatoes on low heat over a long period of time. Note that this soup could easily be made vegetarian by leaving out the bacon and using more olive oil.

Ingredients
8-9 roma tomatoes, chopped into quarters
olive oil
4-5 slices bacon, chopped
6-8 cloves garlic, peeled
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
2 stalks celery, diced
1 large onion, chopped
2-3 carrots
2 cups lentils
8 cups vegetable stock
a handful of fresh marjoram
salt and pepper to taste (it will probably need a lot)

Instructions
Pre-heat the oven to 325 degrees. Put the quartered tomatoes in a glass baking dish, cover them lightly with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and stir. Once the oven has reached temperature, place the dish in the oven and cook slowly for at least an hour (2 hours is fine as well) before continuing to the next step.

Put the chopped bacon into a soup pot and cook on medium until crisp and all the fat has been released into the pan. Meanwhile, add the whole garlic cloves to the roasting tomatoes, stir a bit to coat the garlic in the oil/tomato liquid, and place back in the oven. Then set about chopping your onions, carrots, celery, and the rest of the garlic.

Once the bacon has crisped up, remove it and set aside. Additionally, remove all but 1 tablespoon of the bacon grease from the pan and then dump in the celery, the minced garlic, onion, and carrots stirring to coat everything in the bacon grease. Add a bit more olive oil if necessary, and salt and pepper to taste. Let cook until the onions are soft and translucent, 15 minutes or so.

Add the lentils to the onion mixture and stir, making sure to coat the lentils with the oil. Add about 6-7 cups of stock and bring to a simmer. Once it's simmering, the lentils will need to cook for 30-35 minutes, until the lentils are no longer chalky tasting.

After the lentils have been cooking for few minutes, the tomatoes have probably been roasting for quite a while (maybe 2-3 hours), and the garlic should have had at least 45 minutes, by which time it should be soft. Remove the garlic to a cutting board and smash it into a paste, which can then be stirred into the soup pot. Use a spatula and/or a fork to tear apart the tomatoes in the roasting pan before adding them to the pot as well. Pour about a cup of the stock into the roasting pan to deglaze it, being sure to scrape up all the little brown bits, and then pour this liquid into the soup pot. If you feel the soup needs more liquid, add a bit more stock, though don't overdo it or you will be start to dilute the flavor. About this time, you can also add the chopped marjoram to the pot.

Once the lentils are ready, the soup is done. Add the reserved bacon pieces back to the soup, stir, and let the soup sit for ten minutes or so to allow the flavors to develop. Enjoy!