Over my winter break, about a month ago, I made a lot of food to get me through the remaining winter months. Also, I wanted to use my Christmas gift from Brandon, which you’ll see later in this post. One of the soups I crave during the winter months is cream of tomato. I have tested several recipes over the years with the tomatoes I grow every summer. The most flavorful recipe I found was Ina Garten’s Cream of Fresh Tomato Soup from her Back to Basics cookbook. An added bonus: It is good for you too!
Materials:
- 3 tablespoons good olive oil (I only used 2)
- 1 1/2 cups chopped red onions (2 onions)
- 2 carrots, unpeeled and chopped
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic (3 cloves) (I added 4-5)
- 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 (…bought mine)
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
- 3/4 cup heavy cream(I used fat free half & half)
- Croutons, for garnish(Try making your own! Day old bread cut into cubes tossed in olive oil and sprinkled with Parmesan Cheese. Bake at 350 degrees F until golden brown)
