Our friend dropped off a bunch of tomatoes and basil from her garden, so we chose a creamy tomato basil soup to use up the fresh ingredients.

Having never attempted this before, I searched online for a recipe that would use up a large amount of fresh tomatoes and basil, without needing to go buy additional tomato juice or paste. We decided to use Kitchn’s Tomato Basil Soup recipe to help guide us.

I recommend peeling and seeding the tomatoes for this recipe. This video taught me how to easily peel the tomatoes. Although I didn’t seed the tomatoes this time, I’ll be seeding them the next time I make this recipe.

Because I’m allergic to olive oil, I swapped it out for safflower oil. Luckily, it didn’t alter the taste dramatically. I bet it tastes even better with olive oil.

Also, I highly suggest pairing this soup with grilled cheese. We found this Cheddar-Gruyere sliced cheese from Finlandia and it’s absolutely delicious. Two slices of this cheese between buttered bread toasted up in the pan made for an amazing grilled cheese.

Creamy Tomato Basil Soup with Fresh Tomatoes
Makes 4 Servings

1 large sweet onion (we used Vidalia)
3 large cloves garlic
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (or safflower oil), divided
2-1/2 pounds roma or tomatoes on the vine, skinned and seeded
10 large fresh basil leaves, plus more for serving
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup heavy cream
1 cup water or more (optional)

 

STEPS

1. Boil water. Core the tomatoes and cut an “x” on the bottoms, then blanch (following this video). Put blanched tomatoes in ice water, then remove skins. Slice in half and remove seeds. Dice up tomatoes and set aside in a large bowl.
2. Dice the large onion and mince the garlic. Add 2 Tbsps of oil to a medium pot or Dutch oven on high heat.
3. Once the oil is shimmering (or until a small test onion sizzles when you toss it in), add in the diced onions. I waiting until the onions were turning translucent (around 5 minutes) to clear a spot in the middle of the pan and add in the garlic. Then cook for an additional 2-3 minutes until everything is softened and fragrant.
4. Add in the tomatoes and stir everything together, turning up heat to medium-high. I stirred often to avoid bubbles popping and getting tomato juice everywhere. Cook until the mixture turns orange, around 15 minutes. Remove from heat and add in fresh basil, salt, and a good amount of pepper. Stir to combine and let sit for 5 minutes.
5. If you like a rustic, thick soup, then you can use an immersion blender and blend a portion of this soup. We ended up letting the soup cool down a bit and poured it into our blender. (For a thinner, less condensed soup, you can add in the optional water here, depending on the consistency you want.) Blend slowly, carefully letting air out the top to prevent soup exploding everywhere.
6. If using the blender, pour soup back into pot or Dutch oven and mix in the 1/3 cup heavy cream. Taste and add salt and pepper if needed. Serve with basil leaves on top.

 

NUTRITIONAL INFO

4 serving | 338 cal | total fat 28g | sat fat 6g | cholesterol 26mg | sodium 310mg | total carb 21g | fiber 5g | sugars 12g | protein 4g

 

At the end of our soup-making journey, we were so relieved that everything turned out well and tasted good. Sadly, this did not take the scant 25 minutes suggested on the Kitchn recipe. Probably because our tomatoes were smaller and we went the route of coring and peeling all of them. Not sure how long it took us…felt like at least an hour. This is a more time-intensive recipe where I wouldn’t make it too often, but it feels so satisfying knowing I can make it from scratch if I wanted to.

Have you tried making this recipe, or have you made a creamy tomato basil soup before? Let me know if you have any comments or suggestions!