There was a little bistro here in my town – a sandwich, soup, and salad kind of place. It was successful, but the owners eventually retired and moved to Texas to be closer to their extended family.
The one thing I always ordered was their tomato basil soup. It was rich, tomatoey, and perfumed with sweet basil. And I don’t typically order soup at restaurants.
This is my attempt to recreate something hopefully similar, and definitely good, based on the following criteria.
1. I believe in using good quality canned tomatoes. Summer fresh tomatoes are lovely, but can lack in sweetness, or worse yet – can be tart.
2. I’m adding a carrot to provide a sweet boost, something I learned from making an Italian tomato tart.
3. I’m including a few sun-dried tomatoes for sweetness; they also help thicken.
4. Dried basil goes into this soup. I know that it seems unsophisticated, but I feel both fresh and dried herbs have their places in cooking.
Tomato Basil Soup
printable recipe below
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 small onion, coarsely chopped
1 carrot, coarsely chopped
4 cloves garlic, halved
2 – 28 ounce cans San Marzano whole tomatoes, or other high quality brand
6 sun-dried tomato halves, jarred in oil
1 tablespoon (or more) dried sweet basil
1/2 teaspoon salt
12 ounces heavy cream
Melt the butter in a large enameled pot over medium heat. Add the onion and carrot and sauté for about 5 minutes.
Add the garlic halves and stir for about 30 seconds, then pour in the canned tomatoes and sun-dried tomatoes.
Simmer the tomato mixture for at least 30 minutes, uncovered. Cook longer if there’s still too much liquid; you’ll be adding cream later.
Stir in the sweet basil and salt, and season to taste.
Let the soup cool. Then pour the soup into a large blender jar, along with the cream.
Return the puréed soup to the pot and heat through before serving.
Even with the cream, the soup remains tomato-red, and definitely rich in flavor.
If more richness and creaminess are desired, you can always add a little sour cream or crème fraiche.
Alternatively, crumble a little goat cheese on top.
This soup is fairly quick and definitely easy. If you don’t have sun-dried tomatoes, just use a good quality tomato paste instead, about 3 tablespoons. I like tubular tomato paste for a small job.
Add more dried basil if the soup isn’t basil-y enough. You should definitely taste the tomato-basil combination!
Tomato Basil Soup
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 small onion, coarsely chopped
1 carrot, coarsely chopped
4 cloves garlic, halved
2 – 28 ounce cans San Marzano tomatoes, or other high quality brand
6 sun-dried tomatoes, jarred in oil
1 tablespoon dried sweet basil
1 teaspoon salt
6 ounces heavy cream
Melt the butter in a large enameled pot over medium heat. Add the onion and carrot and sauté for about 5 minutes.
Add the garlic halves and stir for about 30 seconds, then pour in the canned tomatoes and sun-dried tomatoes.
Simmer the tomato mixture for at least 30 minutes, uncovered. Cook longer if there’s still too much liquid; you’ll be adding cream later.
Stir in the sweet basil and salt, and season to taste.
Let the soup cool. Then pour the soup into a large blender jar, along with the cream. This may have to be done in two batches.
Return the puréed soup to the pot and heat through before serving.