Saturday Soup Lunch

Cream of Fresh Tomato Soup

I'm on a soup kick lately.  Fall has a tendency to do that to me.  This is a great September recipe when there are tons of yummy vine-ripened tomatoes still in the markets.  It can easily be made dairy-free by simply omitting the cream completely, or by replacing it with Cashew Cream (recipe below).  Garnish it with basil, pine nuts, and parmesan.

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Ingredients

• 3 tbsp. coconut oil
• 2 small yellow onions, roughly chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 5 large tomatoes (organic, of course!)
• 2 tbsp. tomato paste
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
• About 4 cups of chicken or vegetable stock
• Salt and pepper
• 3/4 cup organic heavy cream
• Your choice of garnish

Method

• Heat oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Add onions and saute for about 10 minutes.
• Add the garlic and basil and cook for one minute.
• Add the tomato paste, tomatoes, chicken stock, salt and pepper.
• Bring the soup to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer, uncovered for about 30-40 minutes, until the tomatoes are very tender.
• Pour the soup into a blender (carefully, and in batches) or use a hand-held immersion blender (one of my FAVE kitchen tools) to blend the soup until smooth.
• Put the soup back in the pot over low-medium heat and stir in cream. 
• Leave the soup on the stove until it's hot, then serve, garnish, and enjoy!