Homemade Cream of Tomato Soup
By: Leah Rodrigues
Published: November 8, 2012

Nothing beats a bowl of homemade cream of tomato soup. Foodista user Spicie Foodie shares her recipe for this comforting soup.  Whole fresh tomatoes are paired with other vegetables to create the soup base.  Tomato paste is added to accentuate and deepen the tomato flavor.  Instead of cream (although you can use that too if you wish), sour cream is mixed in at the last few minutes of cooking.  When serving this cream of tomato soup, don't forget the grilled cheese!
Creamy Tomate Soup



Ingredients:
				 
1 finely chopped white onion
3 finely chopped clove of garlic
4 inches piece of celery finely chopped
1 medium carrot peeled and finely chopped
5 mediums tomatoes cored and quartered
1 tablespoon tomato paste
Pinch finely chopped fresh basil
Pinch of salt, pepper and sugar
1 cup of chicken stock
1-2 tablespoon oil (I used sunflower oil or you could use olive oil)
1 tablespoon heaped sour cream
Parsley leaf for decoration
Blender or hand held blender
 
Directions:
				 








Wash,chop, dice, peel all of the vegetables. In a large pot heat the oil and add all of the vegetable except the tomatoes, stirring to prevent them from burning. Once the vegetables are softened through, add the tomato pastes making sure all the vegetables are coated completely. Next add the tomatoes, add a pinch each of salt, black pepper and sugar, stir to combine all of the ingredients. Simmer until the tomatoes have soften and started to fall apart.


   
Add the chicken stock and a bit of the fresh basil, cover and simmer until the tomatoes have completely separated and become mushy, it will take about 20 minutes. Test to make sure all of the vegetables have cooked through, turn off heat and leave uncovered for about 15 minutes to cool down.


   
Pour some of the soup into a blender , or using a hand held blender mix in the pot. Puree soup until it's a soft and creamy mixture. You can put through a fine sieve to remove the skins and seeds. ( He also suggested removing the seeds and skin at the start of the process. I preferred to remove the seeds when I was cutting the tomatoes, as for the skins I left them.)


   
Put the soup back in the pot with a nob of butter and bring to a boil. Just before serving if you like sour cream you can add some to the soup now. (I used 2 tbs. of cream and I omitted the butter.) Serve with bread and garnish with some parsley leaf, I added dried basil instead of parsley.

Wash,chop, dice, peel all of the vegetables. In a large pot heat the oil and add all of the vegetable except the tomatoes, stirring to prevent them from burning. Once the vegetables are softened through, add the tomato pastes making sure all the vegetables are coated completely. Next add the tomatoes, add a pinch each of salt, black pepper and sugar, stir to combine all of the ingredients. Simmer until the tomatoes have soften and started to fall apart.


     
Add the chicken stock and a bit of the fresh basil, cover and simmer until the tomatoes have completely separated and become mushy, it will take about 20 minutes. Test to make sure all of the vegetables have cooked through, turn off heat and leave uncovered for about 15 minutes to cool down.


     
Pour some of the soup into a blender , or using a hand held blender mix in the pot. Puree soup until it's a soft and creamy mixture. You can put through a fine sieve to remove the skins and seeds. ( He also suggested removing the seeds and skin at the start of the process. I preferred to remove the seeds when I was cutting the tomatoes, as for the skins I left them.)


     
Put the soup back in the pot with a nob of butter and bring to a boil. Just before serving if you like sour cream you can add some to the soup now. (I used 2 tbs. of cream and I omitted the butter.) Serve with bread and garnish with some parsley leaf, I added dried basil instead of parsley.