Follow my train of thought here: When you go to a nice restaurant and the waiter describes the "soup of the day," it's this stuff that he is talking about. The consistency and flavor have the appearance of a four or five star restaurant! I used fresh basil out of our herb garden and fresh Roma tomatoes. I didn't bother to peel the tomatoes. Why? The recipe could not have been any better. Yes, it is fattening. Yes, it could be made healthy. But NO! Don't do it! If anybody ever ask for homemade tomato soup of any kind, let this be the definitive one; it would be hard to do better.
This recipe was excellent!! A restaurant near my house makes the best Tomato Basil soup, so I was looking for a recipe to imitate theirs. I would recommend only blending 1/3 to 1/2 of the soup, leaving some chuncks gives it a nice consistancy. Also pealing and seeding is not a necessity. I did it the first time and not the second time and could not tell the differece. Also if your in hurry canned tomatoes work well as a substitute. Dont skimp on the basil, thats what makes it wonderful. Overall A++ a really great soup for any occasion.
I loved this soup!!! I did not peel the tomatoes, just seeded them. I cut the cream in half as suggested by others & only used about 1/3 of a cup of butter. Since I am always on the lookout to make recipes healthier, next time I will decrease the butter to 1/4 cup & use half & half instead of cream & see if it alters the taste any. I did increase the basil some (practically butchered my little basil starter plants but it was worth it) & I garnished the soup w/ a slice of fresh mozzarella cheese & a sprig of basil. I served this al fresco on my patio w/ a salad & a glass of white merlot...just like dining at LaMadeline's!
The longer you let the tomatoes and juice simmer before adding the cream, the more intense flavor you will have. The first time I made this I used fresh roma tomatoes. I'll never do that again in January! I used petite diced tomatoes the next time and added 2 cloves of chopped garlic to the juice while it simmered. I let the soup simmer for 4 hours and it was to die for! Now I can have the soup without going to La Madel...
This was absolutely fabulous and my husband's new favorite! Used fresh tomatoes which makes all the difference.... added salt pepper and garlic pepper at the end to season. Divine!
So good I nearly passed out! My husband and I had a tomato-basil soup at a restaurant here in San Antonio and I've been looking for a recipe to duplicate it...this is it! Don't fuss over peeling those tomatoes! I used 6 tomatoes on the vine and using tongs, held them by the vine in boiling water until the skins split. The skin will slip right off. Thank you, Holly, for a "keeper"!
I simmered two cans of Scalfani crushed San Marzano tomatoes, and a no-salt tomato juice, and about two teaspoons of sea salt, then strained it through a china cap and pureed the daylights out of it and the basil leaves. The result at that point was a wonderfully fresh and vibrant soup.
I should've stopped there.
I added the butter, and slowly added the cream, stopping to taste after about 1/3 of a cup. The vibrancy of the basil was totally gone, and the zip of the tomatoes was much diminished. I stopped adding cream and added salt, pepper, and lemon juice to try to jazz up what I'd ruined.
I'd suggest omitting the cream, cutting the butter in half, and increasing the basil by a third. If you insist on all the cream and butter, I'd about triple the basil.
Hubby and I really enjoyed this with our wraps and it made for a light but satisfying meal. I blanched the tomatoes for about 30 seconds to remove the peel but didn't bother with seeding them. And my trusty little immersion blender made quick work of pureeing this soup. Because this calls for fresh tomatoes only the reddest and ripest should be used for best flavor. If those aren't available it would be better to substitute canned. I made half the recipe which was just right for the two of us (considering that hubby liked this so much he had himself a second bowl full!)
This soup is going to taste a little sharp when you add TINNED tomatoes. The sharpness probably came from the metal of the can. Tinned tomatoes don't have nearly the amount of flavor as fresh. I used Roma tomatoes which were EXCELLENT for this soup. I doubled the batch and used 64oz. of Campbells Tomato Juice. Additionally to add some additional flavor I used 1 strip of center cut bacon for each tomatoe or every 4 ozs. of tomatoe juice. I dislike cream of tomatoe soup but this stuff is out of the world. Something about Roma tomatoes and homemade bacon bits in the soup put it over the top. To add the bacon take the raw bacon and cut it into pieces then cook it. Save the grease (I know it sounds unhealthy but it makes the soup killer). After you cook down the tomatoes and puree them add the grease when you add the cream. Then when serving the soup take the bacon bits and garnish the soup with them.
