Homemade Cream of Tomato Soup

We both have a strong memory of comfort food built around cream of tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. And after cold, windy days like today (our annual Farm Open House, 45 F in a gusty 20 mph wind), we need a bit of super-warm comfort.

The trick with this recipe is not to fall back on making Campbell's instead. It does take about 30 minutes of simmering, but it is worth it. We use our own quarts of tomato puree from the year before. The tomatoes are all gone by then, but I have 14 oz cans of Muir Glen diced tomatoes handy to give it some texture.

The 30 minute simmering time is to allow the basil time to get well-mixed.

And finally, we don't buy cream this way (unless it is going into whipped cream). So I used 1/2 cup of whole milk - not from the store which may have some cream removed, but absolutely fresh off the udder, whole goat milk. The cream there is part of the allure of the texture and gives a nice floor to the sweet tomato flavor.

"Tastes like summer."

Ingredients

• 1 quart of tomato puree, hopefully your own
• 4 medium sized tomatoes, diced OR 14 oz canned diced tomatoes
• 1 Tbsp of dried basil OR 10-15 fresh basil leaves (best)
• 1 broth cube (I used Herb-Ox vegetable bouillon cubes)
• 1/2 cup heavy cream OR 1/2 cup whole milk w/ cream

Steps

1. Add the quart of puree, the diced tomatoes, broth cube and the basil to a medium sized pot. Bring to a fast simmer then down to a low simmer. Hold there for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. Once the 30 minutes are up, turn off the heat and stir in the cream/whole milk and serve immediately hot.
3. While the soup is simmering, you might as well start making grilled cheese sandwiches!

Serves 4.