Tomato Soup

It has been a week of soup eating/drinking. We are all recovering from the overindulging during the holidays and we are all fighting off a cold. This tomato soup was inspired by Ina Garten of the Barefoot Contessa. In her recipe she calls for 3/4 cup of heavy cream but I found this was not necessary. She also used a food mill where I used a handheld blender which in turn retains more of the pulp which thickens the soup. If you like a very velvety texture you could strain the soup through a fine sieve. I have experimented with many tomato soup recipes and this is the winner.


Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 1/2 cups chopped red onions (2 onions)
• 2 carrots, unpeeled and chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic minces
• 4 pounds 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 or parsley leaves, for garnish
• 3 cups stock, vegetable or chicken
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup heavy cream

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, 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 puree with an immersion blender. Reheat the soup over low heat just until hot and serve with julienned basil or parsley leaves. You can top it with some croutons as well.