Winter Tomato Soup with Blue Cheese

I have been itching to try making a winter tomato soup from the tomatoes in my freezer. Here is what I came up with last night, made with the last of some Berkshire Blue cheese we had on hand.

5-6 cloves garlic, minced
4 1-qt bags frozen tomatoes, peeled and coarsely chopped
3 chicken or veggie bouillon cubes
1/4 cup chopped or crumbled blue cheese
3/4 cup orzo or other small pasta (optional)
1 1/2 cups milk (substitute cream for part of this if you like)
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat some olive oil in a soup pot and saute the garlic for about 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes and let simmer until cooked through. Add the bouillon cubes once they give up some of their liquid.

When the tomatoes are thoroughly cooked, puree them with an immersion blender (or in batches in a blender or food processor). Add the cheese and stir until melted. Add the pasta, if using, and let the soup simmer until the pasta is cooked. Add milk, salt and pepper and remove from heat.

Serves 4-6.

Variations: You could take this in a variety of different directions. Skip the cheese and pasta and add a splash of lime juice and a couple cubes of cilantro from the freezer for a Mexican version. Use strongly flavored goat cheese in place of the blue and throw in some minced fresh rosemary or thyme. Try some feta in place of the blue cheese, and fresh mint (or frozen if you have it).