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 is the soup that triggered my more intense 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 whole milk, not half & half, heavy cream. That's one reason it tastes so good.

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 tomatoes. 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 tomatoes right over the soup pot which eliminated one transfer. The only downside was a fair amount of tomatoes didn't get fully pureed and it was a bit of a pain to take apart and clean. So, Berdie bought a Cuisinart immersion blender as a birthday present for me last April. What a great idea! This device is really powerful and works great! It has a few attachments that I have yet to use. 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. They don't take up much room in the cabinet when not in use.

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.

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