Tomato Basil Soup

My husband and myself like to eat in this Italian restaurant called Carrabbas.  We love the grilled pork chops there. And of course the pasta there has never failed my expectations. One of the news things my husband has tried and love is their tomato basil soup. My husband is not very adventurous with food. Once he likes some food he will always eat that. Very predictable. So one day he ordered something different which surprises me. And he loves it. You might have guessed it, the next few times we went Carrabbas, he will definitely order the tomato basil soup.


Since he like it so much and his colleague just gave us a basil plant, I shall try to cook this. It is actually very simple. I have gathered two recipes on this soup and merged them together based on what I have at home.


Ingredients:

1)  1 cup fresh tomatoes, cored, peeled, and chopped  or 1 cup canned whole tomatoes , crushed

2)  1 cup tomato juice (or part vegetable or part chicken stock) I do not have tomato juice, so I use half a small can of tomato paste (not ketchup) and mixed with the chicken stock.

3)  3 -3 1/2 basil leaves , washed fresh

4)  1 chopped medium size yellow onion

5)  3 cloves garlic, minced

6) 1/16 teaspoon cracked black pepper

7) 1/4 cup heavy cream. (I use milk instead)

8) 1tablespoon unsalted butter

9) 1/4 to taste salt

10) 1/4 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

11) 1/4 to taste lemon juice (optional)

Directions:

1) Saute the onions and garlic with the butter and red pepper flakes for 10 minutes, until the onions start to brown.

2) Add in the tomatoes, juice/and or stock in saucepan.

3)   Simmer for 30 minutes.

4) Puree, along with the basil leaves, in small batches, in blender, food processor (or better yet, one of those handy hand-held food blenders, right in the cooking pan). Return to saucepan and add cream (i use milk) while stirring, over low heat. 

5) You can garnish with basil leaves and a dash of black pepper before serving.