Thankful Expressions: Creamy Tomato Basil Soup

Because this is the longest, coldest winter EVER, and I'm pining for warm days and sunshine, I went in search of something warm and summery... I found this recipe in the archives that contains fresh garden ingredients.

Oh my! If you like tomato basil soup, you've got to try this recipe. It's too good for words! I had a bunch of tomatoes I had to use up, so went in search of a soup recipe (of course, because I love soup... yesterday I made carrot soup - mmmm, good... but it's no comparison to this one!) Anyway, I found a few recipes online that I thought looked good, and ended up combining them to come up with this...

Use fresh ingredients - there are a few extra steps to get the tomatoes peeled and seeded... but it's so worth it! I'm sure it makes all the difference.

Okay, here goes.

Ingredients

3 T butter

1 lg. carrot washed and diced

1 lg. onion, peeled and diced

12 roma tomatoes

1/2 cup fresh basil, minced

little bit of organic cane sugar (less than a tsp.)

couple shakes of black pepper

salt to taste

1 cup chicken broth - I happened to have some homemade in the freezer

3/4 cup cream

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of water to boil and add the fresh tomatoes. Meanwhile, have a sinkful of very cold water ready. After just a minute or two, transfer the tomatoes to the cold water. Peel the skin when they're cool enough to handle. It makes the skin slip right off. Cut and seed the tomatoes; set aside.

2. In a saucepan, heat butter over medium heat. Add in onion and carrot and cook till onion is transparent, stirring frequently. Stir in tomatoes, basil, sugar and pepper. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Reduce heat and simmer, covered for about 10 minutes.

3. Puree... I used my submersible mixer right in the same pan. It left tiny chunks of onion, tomato and carrot, which I didn't mind a bit. But if you prefer it totally smooth, then I'd transfer it to a food processor.

4. Return to saucepan (if you used the food processor) and stir in broth, half and half and salt. Heat for 5 or 10 more minutes.

5. Ladle into individual bowls (about 4, depending on size) and garnish with basil leaf ...if you feel like it.