Roasted Tomato Florentine Soup with Pan-Fried Panella Cheese

Place tomatoes in a medium mixing bowl with garlic and olive oil.

Coat well, and then place the tomatoes on a roasting pan in 350° F oven.

Cook the tomatoes and garlic until the tomatoes start to brown and the juices start to release, about 10-20 minutes.

While the tomatoes are roasting, put the onion and carrots in a medium saucepan with the butter.

Sweat the vegetables over medium-high heat, and cook until the onions are transparent and tender.

Add the roasted tomatoes and garlic to the sautéed onions and carrots. Continue to sauté for another five minutes, so that the flavors can blend together.

Carefully put the soup into a blender. Only fill the blender halfway, as the heat from the soup will cause the hot liquid to shoot out of the blender top. You may have to do this step in batches.

Puree the soup until it is a smooth consistency.

Return the soup to the pot, add the 2 cups chicken stock, and bring back up to a simmer. Once the soup starts to simmer, add the cream and stir well.

Taste the soup, and season with salt and pepper to your liking.

Finally, add the raw spinach just before serving. Doing this will help preserve some of the color and texture of the spinach.

To garnish this soup, cut the Panella cheese into 1-inch squares and brown in a hot nonstick sauté pan, then place the cheese on top of the soup.