Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Tomato Basil Soup

One of my favorite summer treats is tomato basil soup. I love dinner taking less than an hour from garden to table.

I have a variety of tomatoes growing, and I like the flavor of mixing them together. But, of course, you can do it however you wish. I scald them first to make them easy to peel, but you can skip that if you don't mind the peelings. I generally put the water on to boil before I go out to pick and by the time I'm back and the tomatoes are washed, the water is ready.



I just dump the peeled tomatoes in a pot, and I go ahead and put the basil in early. Chefs say the flavor isn't as intense if you do that, and I don't disagree, but I like having the milder flavor throughout the soup. And I use a generous amount.

You can see there are some yellow tomatoes, large red ones, and smaller roma ones in this mix, as well as the basil. The only other thing I add is a pinch of salt.

I don't add any water as the tomatoes are juicy enough on their own. I let them cook down until their water is cooked out and then I puree the tomatoes and basil. I put them back into the pot and add some cream to taste.



The final thing I do is sprinkle a little sugar on top. It will turn a darker color, and I then swirl that around just to make it look pretty. You can also garnish with fresh basil if you want.

The sugar cuts the acid of the tomatoes, and helps blend the flavors together.

Voila! Tomato Basil Soup! Yummy!
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