Tomato Basil soup

What a gorgeous day today. Woke up about 7:30 and went walking with my buddy Claudia.. It was 51 F.

I bought a bunch of large tomatoes on sale for $4.00 on Monday. We just came back in this week from Capetown and picked up some kind of stomach bug while on the many planes we rode on. We just finished the chicken noodle soup I made, so I think I will make some fresh tomato basil soup. I am not a fan of Campbells tomato soup, but when I tried tomato soup from scratch I was seriously impressed.

So  I used 4 of the 9 tomatoes. Last time I made this soup, I boiled water and dropped them the tomatoes for a minute or two and then dunked them in ice water so that the skin would detach easily. Well, I didn't feel like doing that this time. So, I just chopped up the tomatoes and gutted out the seeds. I looked for basil on my plants outside, but there was not enough to use, so I went to the freezer and dug through until i found icecube frozen basil that i had sealed in bags. I also couldn't find any tomato paste so I pulled that out of the freezer also.

  I  heated up my stockpot on medium high and added olive oil. I waited until the oil started to sizzle a little. I added 1.5 chopped red onion and 3 carrots  roughly chopped. I sauted it for 10 minutes. Then I added 3 garlic cloves minced for one minute. I then added the tomatoes, 3 cups  chicken stock, salt and pepper, 1/3 c sugar, basil and tomato paste. I brought it to a boil and let that cook for 40 minutes.

When it was done, I added 3/4 cup of heavy cream and  transferred the soup in batches to a blender  to process. Tip to those that try to do this...Only fill it up halfway and keep your hand on the blender otherwise you will have a big mess when you push the power button for the first time. Out of the top of the blender it will spew everywhere like a volcano erupting. What a mess. Now, seriously I know to keep my hand on the top and it was there just not firm enough.

After cleaning up the mess, I continued to process the soup in batches until it was all done. I then returned it to the pot and turned the heat down to low. I think  I will make croutons a little later today and also tomato, cheese bruschetta to go with it..yum yum...

Here is the recipe I  used from Barefoot Contessa.

• 3 tablespoons good olive oil
• 1 1/2 cups chopped red onions (2 onions)
• 2 carrots, unpeeled and chopped
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic (3 cloves)
• 4 pounds vine-ripened tomatoes, coarsely chopped (5 large)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1/4 cup packed chopped fresh basil leaves, plus julienned basil leaves, for garnish
• 3 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• Croutons, for garnish

Directions

Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pot over medium-low heat. Add the onions and carrots and saute for about 10 minutes, until very tender. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the tomatoes, sugar, tomato paste, basil, chicken stock, salt, and pepper and stir well. Bring the soup to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer, uncovered, for 30 to 40 minutes, until the tomatoes are very tender.

Add the cream to the soup and process it through a food mill into a bowl, discarding only the dry pulp that's left. Reheat the soup over low heat just until hot and serve with julienned basil leaves and/or croutons.