Rosemary & Garlic Tomato Soup with Cheesy Focaccine

Poppa Trix has declared that January is Soup Month in the Trix household, and he's not kidding. So far this month, I've posted a roast chestnut and butternut squash veloute, Paris mushroom soup for French Fridays with Dorie, and now this - which, by the way, I've made twice. You don't even know about the pumpkin and yogurt soup I whipped up (but forgot to write down what went into it), or the fact that I made garlic cream soup (Knoblauchcremesuppe)  for lunch the other day from an instant Knorr's soup packet from Austria.

It's a sickness, I'm telling you.

Luckily, it doesn't matter that I forgot to write down what I put in this soup: Not counting the salt, pepper, and olive oil, there are only six ingredients.  And therein lies its beauty (if I do say so myself).  But my favorite part of this meal are the adorable focaccine, or min-focaccia:

Though the way they puffed up, I'm thinking maybe I should call them boules. Yes? I think someone slipped steroids into my yeast packet:

But I'm not complaining. To make the focaccine,  I followed my usual focaccia recipe, only this time I included 3 tablespoons of olive oil in the dough. Once the dough has risen, punch it down, knead it gently for a minute, and divide into four equal balls. Cover and let them rest for 10 minutes or so, and then shape into discs of about one inch thick. Lightly brush with olive oil and make small indentations all over with your thumb. Then for the fun part: toppings!

On the left, I used Gorgonzola with thyme; on the right, Emmenthaler with red onion. I also added a just a smidge of Maldon sea salt. Kind of like tomato soup with grilled cheese, only fancy.

For the soup, you'll need 3-4 Tbsp olive oil, 2 large shallots (chopped), 4-5 cloves of minced garlic, one 28-ounce can of whole San Marzano plum tomatoes (you must use San Marzanos ... I command you!), 1 cup of vegetable or chicken broth, a big sprig of rosemary, 1/4 cup of heavy cream, and salt and pepper.  In a stockpot over medium heat, saute the shallots in the oil until tender. Add the garlic and stir. Add the tomatoes, along with their juice, and squish them with a fork, a potato masher, or your hands. Add the broth and rosemary sprig and bring to a gentle boil. Reduce to a simmer, and remove the rosemary after about five minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Simmer until the tomatoes "melt." With an immersion blender, blend until smooth. Add the cream and re-season with salt and pepper.

And that ... is that. What did I tell you? Simple. This is everything I want in a tomato soup: tangy, herb-y, and soul-warming.