Cream of Fresh Tomato Soup

The weather has been pretty gross around here, and it has me craving cozy comfort food.  One of my all time favorites is tomato soup and grilled cheese, but instead of just heating it up from a can, I decided to get a bit fancier and make it from scratch.  Flipping through Barefoot Contessa: Back to Basics, I found her Cream of Fresh Tomato Soup and knew that it would be delicious.  The soup was actually super simple to put together, with the most tedious part being blending it in batches.  Paired with grilled cheese sandwiches made with sharp and white cheddar and crunchy french bread, it was the perfect meal to come home to on a rainy fall evening.  As long as there are fresh tomatoes around, I will be making this soup :)

Cream of Fresh Tomato Soup

Ingredients
3 tblsp olive oil
1 1/2 cup red onion, chopped (about 1 and 1/2 onions)
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
3 cloves minced garlic
4 lbs vine-ripened tomatoes, coarsely chopped
1 1/2 tsp sugar
1 tblsp tomato paste
1/4 cup packed chopped basil leaves
3 cups chicken stock
1 tblsp salt
2 tsp pepper
3/4  cup heavy cream

Instructions
1. Heat oil in large pot over medium low heat.  Add onions and carrots and sautee for about 10 minutes until very tender.  Add garlic and cook for 1 minute. 
2. Add tomatoes, sugar, tomato paste, basil, chicken stock, salt, and pepper and stir well.  Bring soup to a boil, lower heat, and simmer, uncovered for 30 to 40 minutes, until tomatoes are very tender.
3. Add cream to the soup.  In batches, puree soup in blender until desired consistency.  Reheat over low heat until just hot.  
4. Serve with grilled cheese on crunchy bread.

serves 5 or 6

adapted from Barefoot Contessa

xoxo,
stephanie marie