Yummy in the Tummy Tomato Soup

Excuse the lack of picture on this one but I was WAY more concerned about attacking this soup then I was with taking pictures. Next time I make it, I will throw a picture up.



ANYWHO...I was on a mission last week to find a delish creamy tomato soup because 1. I needed comfort food and 2. I had been having mad, mad cravings for the tomato soup from Le Madeline's. Sadly, Le Madeline does not exist in the great state of California so I needed to make my own. Small challenge of making tomato soup in the fall/winter? No fresh tomatoes. And no, don't bring up those gross hot house tomatoes to me. BLAH. So, I needed to find one that used canned tomatoes. Thanks to my online food bible, I was able to find a recipe I could make some slight moderations with to make a beyond delish dish. I sort of hesitate to call this a "naughty but delish" recipe but I'm making the call since the heavy cream sends it in to that category. The sister gives this a 5 star. Do yourself a favor and double this. Yes, it IS that good.

Side note: I, like most 20-somethings, do not own a hand immersion blender. So, I just used a regular blender. Caution ahead...use your head and blend HOT ingredients in small batches. Only fill the blender up 1/3 third full so you don't end up burning your body parts off.

Tomato Soup
4 servings

Ingredients:

1 14-ounce can chopped tomatoes
1/8-1/4th cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 yellow onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup chicken broth
1 bay leaf
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup heavy cream

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F

Strain the chopped canned tomatoes, reserving the juices, and spread onto a baking sheet, season with salt and pepper, to taste, drizzle with 1/4 cup of the olive oil and roast until caramelized, about 15 minutes

Meanwhile, in a saucepan, heat remaining olive oil over medium-low heat. Add the onion and garlic, cook until softened, about 10 minutes. Add the roasted chopped canned tomatoes, reserved tomato juices, chicken broth, bay leaf and butter. Simmer until vegetables are very tender, about 15 to 20 minutes. Add basil and cream. Remove the bay leaf. Puree with a hand held immersion blender until smooth.