Easy Tomato Basil Soup
Tomato Basil Soup
Tomato Soup & grilled cheese?? Nothing better! Super easy to prepare and such a great accompaniment to your favorite grilled cheese sandwich too!
Tomato Basil Soup
Yield: 6 - 8 generous bowls
Ingredients:
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, diced
3 – 4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 cups chicken broth
1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes or 5 fresh tomatoes, chopped
2 cups tomato juice
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1⁄4 teaspoon black pepper
8 – 10 large basil leaves (or 1 - 1 1/2 tsp dried)
1⁄2 cup parmesan cheese, grated
1⁄4 cup half and half or milk of choice
Garnish: Extra sliced fresh basil, fresh grated parmesan
Equipment needed:
5 – 6 quart soup pot
Cutting board
Chef knife
Liquid and dry measuring cups
Measuring spoons
Hand emersion blender or blender
Rubber or bamboo spatula
Ladle
Don’t you love a bowl of tomato soup with grilled cheese? When growing up tomato soup was my favorite soup! Think I had it for school lunch in a thermos for years too! Making it homemade is so simple and a great way to use up the canned goods in your cupboard… Fresh is great too. I can jars of sauce and fresh tomato juice each summer, so this recipe is a great way to use those up. I also grow tons of basil each year and dry it too. Adding it to tomato soup is soooo yummy. I make soup any time of year... not just on frigid cold days. I sometimes serve it cold in the summer, kind of like gazpacho. Try it and see ... grab up your ingredients and lets’ cook!
Not only is this soup easy to prepare, it doesn’t require a ton of ingredients or equipment. Begin by chopping your garlic and dicing the onions. It doesn’t really matter how big or small they are as everything will be blended later. Heat the olive oil in a soup pot over medium high heat for about 2 -3 minutes and add the onions and garlic. Sauté these for 5 minutes or until bright yellow and fragrant. Adjust the heat down a bit if they are cooking too quickly. You do not want them to burn but a bit of browning is okay. Pour in the undrained can of tomatoes or chopped fresh ones, tomato juice and tomato paste. I add a bit of paste to the soup to richen the tomato flavor. Sprinkle the seasonings on top and give it a few stirs. Allow the ingredients to come to a simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally.
To finalize the soup, the addition of basil and parmesan is next. To cut the basil into strips, stack the basil leaves and roll into a long tube. With a chef knife, slice the leaves into thin strips as shown above. Stir these into the pot of bubbling soup and sprinkle on the parmesan cheese. Turn off the heat at this point. Add the half and half to the pot of yummy tomato goodness and stir well. The liquid is quite hot! I use a hand emulsion blender to puree all the ingredients. It's a great little tool and worth the purchase price of $25 - 30. Carefully immerse the blender into the pot and turn on. Move the hand-held blender around the pot until all the soup is smooth. DO NOT turn the blender on and then immerse into the soup or raise out of the hot pot while it is still running. This is dangerous and might splatter hot soup everywhere. If you don’t have an emulsion blender, a regular blender will work too, but be careful. Ladle the hot soup into the blender, about 1/2 - 2/3 full, cover and carefully blend on low speed while holding the lid on tightly. Carefully remove the lid and pour into another pot. You might have to blend 2 -3 batches depending on the size of your blender. Leave soup over very low heat until serving to avoid curdling of the half and half.
Your creamy tomato basil soup is ready to serve! Wasn’t that easy? Bet it took under 30minutes! Ladle up the soup in bowls and garnish with a few ribbons of fresh basil and a dusting of fresh grated parmesan cheese. Serve with grilled cheese or broiled open-faced cheese sandwiches for your dipping pleasure... Enjoy!!