Momma's Kitchen {Tomato Soup}

When Brian and I were first married we lived in a small apartment in a western suburb of Chicago. One day he was feeling under the weather and was wanting some homemade tomato soup. I had never made anything close to that before so I busted out a vegetarian cookbook and gave it a shot. Ever since then we've been eating it often through the winter and I've stopped looking at the cookbook and changing it up a bit. More out of laziness than anything.



Ingredients:

- 2 lbs or more of tomatoes (if I have to buy them I get plum, but these are a mixture from our garden.)
- half an onion (I tend to use yellow onions, no rhyme or reason.)
- 4 cloves of garlic pressed
- olive oil
- 1 cup heavy cream (or however much you prefer)
- 3 cups of vegetable broth (or more if you use more tomatoes)
- about 5 leaves of fresh basil

Puree the onions and tomatoes (separately).



See my sad little food processor? I have to puree in shifts.

Heat your oil in a medium/large pot and cook the garlic and onion for a couple of minute. Just enough to soften the onion but not change the color. Add the tomatoes and broth. Simmer on medium for 20 minutes (or more if you are busy). Stir in cream and basil and let it cook for just a couple more minutes. After this point it's ready, but in my opinion it just gets better the longer you leave it on low, and is even better heated up the next day.

I served it with Cheddar Cheese Puffs. Mine didn't turn out quite so puffy and fell in. Maybe my pâte a choux came out wrong. I just thought I'd throw that word in. All the ingredients are recognizable. Plus I had to cook mine in a skillet because I only have one saucepan...and there was soup in it. Kinda sad huh? Hello Le Creuset, help a girl out?


Sorry for the out of focus photo. Someday we'll have a kitchen and dining room with lots of great natural light.

You can add and subtract from the soup, but I feel like it's pretty forgiving. I don't know the science of cooking things so if anyone happens to anything I should do differently feel free to leave a gentle comment. Thanks!

I.M.