**If you have a quart of slow roasted tomatoes from the summer in your freezer, use them instead and skip this step.** Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Cut the tomatoes in half and arrange them in a roasting pan. Tuck the garlic cloves in among the tomatoes. Sprinkle them with salt and pepper and drizzle the olive oil over the top. Slide the pan into the oven and roast for 45 minutes to an hour, until the tomatoes soften.

Heat the butter in an 8 quart soup pot until it foams. Add the onions, leeks, and garlic and cook until they brown a bit and wilt.

Add the roasted tomatoes, the jar or can of tomatoes, the basil leaves, the thyme, and whichever liquid you're using.

Bring the soup ingredients up to a boil and then reduce the heat to medium, in order to maintain a simmer. Let it simmer for 35 to 40 minutes.

Once the cooking time is up, pass the soup through a food mill fitted with a large screen and return it to a pot. This is to remove the thyme sprigs, tough tomato skins, and leek strings.

Using an immersion, puree the soup. Add the half and half and taste. Season with additional salt and pepper, as needed.

Serve warm.