TOMATO & ROASTED GARLIC LENTIL SOUP

Variation from The Daily Soup recipe book.

Ingredients:
1 whole head of garlic
2 tbsp olive oil
1 lrg Spanish onion
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 bay leaves
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1lb french red or brown lentils (recipe calls for "French")
8 cups vegetable stock
1 28oz can diced tomatoes, drained
3 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp minced fresh garlic
Garnish: 1/4 cup fresh Italian parsley, chopped
Optional: Recipe also calls for dried rosemary, which I hate, so I omitted.

Preheat oven to 450oF. Wrap the head of garlic in foil and roast in oven for 15min, until tender. When cool enough to handle, remove the cloves from the skin and puree in a food processor or blender; set aside until ready to use. Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, celery, and carrots and sweat for 4 min, until tender. Add the bay leaves, salt, and pepper and stir to coat the vegetables. Add the lentils, stock, tomatoes, and tomato paste. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, partially cover, and simmer for 1hr, until lentils are tender. Stir in the pureed roasted garlic, vinegar, and fresh garlic. Simmer for 2min to heat through. Remove bay leaves to serve, and top with parsley.