Cream of Fresh Tomato Soup

We got a summer tease here last week with 80 degree days and 60 degree nights, but this week we are back to freezing temperatures again. The only upside to this brutal return of winter is that I can squeeze out a few more cold weather meals that I did not get around to trying yet. At the top of this list is Ina Garten’s Cream of Fresh Tomato Soup. I love tomato soup and basically anything that Ina makes, so I knew the odds were in favor of me liking this recipe. No surprises here! It was wonderful! I only decreased the cream a little as I think she prefers things creamier than I do.

Cream of Fresh Tomato Soup
Barefoot Contessa
Serves 4-6

Ingredients
3 tablespoons good olive oil
1 ½ cups chopped sweet onion
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 tablespoon minced garlic (3 cloves)
4 pounds vine-ripened tomatoes, coarsely chopped (5 large)
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1/4 cup packed chopped fresh basil leaves, plus julienned basil leaves, for garnish
3 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade
1 tablespoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
½ cup heavy cream

Directions

Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pot over medium-low heat. Add the onions and carrots and sauté for about 10 minutes, until very tender. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the tomatoes, sugar, tomato paste, basil, chicken stock, salt, and pepper and stir well. Bring the soup to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer, uncovered, for 30 to 40 minutes, until the tomatoes are very tender.

Add the cream to the soup and run a immersion blender through the soup to create your desired consistency. Reheat the soup over low heat just until hot and serve with julienned basil leaves