Tomato Basil Soup

I have been on a soup kick since the weather turned colder late this fall. I tend to choose soup recipes that can be made in the slow cooker, partly for the convenience and partly because of the delicious aromas that dissipate when soup simmers all day. In the past few months I have made vegetable minestrone, white chicken chili, Texas-style chili (no beans), and black bean soup. Yum.

This recipe for tomato basil soup, however, is not prepared in a slow cooker but instead is prepared on the stove. If you have ever eaten the tomato basil soup at Le Madeline, you know the deliciousness I am talking about. Tomato and basil with a hint of cream - wow! The ingredients are simple and clean, the recipe is easy to prepare, and the result is just about one of the best-tasting soups I have ever tasted in my life. No joke. I am seriously addicted to this soup. So is Scott. Try it and you'll become a fan too.



Tomato Basil Soup


2 28 ounce cans of diced tomatoes
1 large bunch of fresh basil
2 cups of tomato juice
2 cups of vegetable or chicken broth
1/2 cup of cream
1/2 stick of butter
salt & pepper to taste

Combine tomatoes, juice, and broth in a large pot. Cook on medium low heat, covered, for about 30 minutes. When the soup is hot, add the basil. Blend the basil with the juice and broth using an emulsifier (if you do not have an emulsifier, blend the soup in a blender in batches until thoroughly mixed and the basil is in small pieces). Add the butter and cream and let the soup heat back up.

I guess I added my cream and butter along with the basil leaves and then blended it up with my immulsion blender. This is a mistake and out of order according to the directions above. But it was still delicious.

And below is the finished product after blending the tomato/juice mixture with the cream, butter and basil. Can you see the tiny flecks of green in the soup? They are divine hits of sweet basil. Awesome.

This recipe is quite forgiving in that you can let the soup simmer much longer than the directions idicate and it still tastes great. I have also played around with adjusting the cream (substituting some half and half for the cream) and decreasing the butter a bit and it still tastes great. The 2 cups broth, 2 cups tomato juice is approximate as I sometimes add more and sometimes add less. I think the keys are using good quality fresh basil and letting the soup sit so the flavors blend. This soup tastes better the second and third day.

If you like tomatoes, try this and I promise you will love it. Let me know what you think!