Cream of Fresh Tomato

 I have not made this soup in quite a while, not sure why because it is one of my favorites. Actually, this soup is the one that triggered my interest in making soups.  This recipe is from Ina Garten's show Barefoot Contessa on Food Network. If you watch any of her shows you know she is not reluctant to use cream and butter in her recipes. This soup is proof of that with a good dose of heavy cream. Not skim, not whole, and not Half & Half, but Heavy Cream. That's one reason it tastes so good.

I mentioned previously that I changed jobs within the same company a few months ago. Having a new group of people to share soup with is so much fun. I am repeatedly surprised how much food and cooking breaks down people's barriers and inhibitions. Sharing my soups with people enables them to feel very comfortable to approach me and mention the soup of the week and strike up a conversation about how they enjoyed it and ask about why I bring them in regularly and how they recall growing up eating lots of soups and how they talk about the soup of the week with their family. It brings a smile to my face just thinking about it now.

This recipe makes 5 - 6 servings. This is the recipe that prompted me to buy an immersion blender. The first few times I made this soup I used either a blender or a manual food mill to puree the soup. The blender was a pain because the transferring of the tomatoes to and from the blender was very messy. The food mill was an improvement because I could puree the soup right over another soup pot which eliminated one transfer. The only downside was a fair amount of soup didn't get fully pureed and it was a bit of a pain to take apart and clean. Berdie bought a Cuisinart immersion blender as a birthday present for me a couple of years ago and I've never looked back. What a great idea! This device is really powerful and works great! Check it out on Amazon. This thing is powerful. You have to be careful when using in a pot because if you raise the blender too much you end up with a swirl of food stuffs being sprayed all over the kitchen and you. If you find yourself using a blender for different recipes you should consider an immersion blender. 

A couple of tips on the ingredients. For the minced garlic I use the jarred stuff from Spice World. You find it in the produce section. I don't enjoy peeling and mincing garlic. I end up with very sticky fingers and knife along with a cutting board that carries garlic forever. I find the Spice World garlic very good and real easy to use. For the tomatoes I've used different types, romas, beefsteaks and several from our garden of different varieties and they were all good tasting. For the tomato paste I end up using a whole small can because the recipe calls for only 1 tablespoon and the rest of the can would not get used. An option would be to buy the paste that comes in a tube so you use only what the recipe calls for and reseal the rest. I also added my usual dose of fresh squeezed lemon juice to taste. As I'm mentioned before I have found the lemon juice adds just the right bite to most of my soups that you might try to get with more salt. 

INGREDIENTS

3 tablespoons of olive oil

1.5 cups of chopped red onions, about 2 onions

2 carrots, unpeeled and chopped

1 tablespoon of minced garlic (3 cloves)

4 pounds of vine-ripened tomatoes, coarsely chopped, about 5 large

1.5 teaspoons of sugar

1 tablespoon of tomato paste

1/4 cup of packed chopped fresh basil leaves

3 cups of chicken stock

1 tablespoon of kosher salt

2 teaspoons of freshly ground black pepper

3/4 cup of heavy cream

Croutons for garnish

METHOD

1. Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy bottomed pot over medium heat.
2. Add the onions and carrots and sauté for about 10 minutes, until very tender.
3. Add the garlic and cook for 1 additional minute.
4. Add the tomatoes, sugar, tomato paste, basil, chicken stock, salt, pepper and stir well.
5. Bring the soup to a boil, lower the heat and simmer uncovered for 30 - 40 minutes until the tomatoes are very tender
6. Add the cream to the soup and process it with an immersion blender, food mill or blender. 
7. Add the juice of 1/2 of a lemon or more to taste
8. Add salt and pepper to taste
9. Reheat the soup over low heat until hot and serve with julienned basil leaves and croutons.