Tomato Basil Soup

Description

Tomato soup is a classic comfort food that is delicious,  easy to make, and truly nourishing.  You can make this soup from a variety of tomatoes, including canned or fresh, whether you buy them from your local farmers market or at your grocer.  For my Tomato Basil Soup, I start by roasting the vegetables to get a good caramelization on them, which maximizes and deepens their flavor.  I also love to add a generous handful of fresh basil in the end along with a small amount of heavy cream.  The basil brings a fresh and herbal note to the soup while the cream balances the acidity of the tomatoes. You can always eat this soup on its own, but my favorite way to serve my Tomato Basil Soup is to make some homemade croutons, or even serve it with a good hunk of crusty bread.  I find myself making this soup during the summer time when tomatoes are at their peak flavor, but you can make this throughout the year with store bought roma tomatoes.  I recommend roma tomatoes for this recipe because of their thicker flesh and lower juice content. I think you’ll find that if you use any other variety of tomato, it may be harder to get the optimal caramelization it takes to get a deep tomato flavor.  When it comes time to blend, I always recommend a handheld blender for any pureed soups. Handheld blenders are incredibly convenient, easy to use,  and wont dirty up more dishes than you need. This is another recipe that packs a ton of flavor but only takes a handful of steps to make. We have a hard time not going back for seconds, usually after having one bowl, my kids are fishing for more.  Speaking of fishing, did you know about that time I almost won an award for catching the biggest fish?  My family and I took a trip to the northwest territory late in the summer to spend some good quality time in nature.  We had gone on hiking trips, biking excursions, and decided that we would wrap up our vacation with a family fishing trip.  We booked a guide to take us around one of the largest lakes in the area and take us to all the best fishing spots.  We embarked early in the morning, and after a brisk and bumpy boat ride, we finally arrived at our spot and dropped anchor.  The guide expertly showed us which bait and tackle to use and in no time we were casting off.  Almost immediately we were all catching smaller fish like bluegills and perch, which lasted for a long time until I casted off my line and received a tug that almost pulled me out of the boat.  Whatever was on the other end was far too strong for me to reel in all by myself, so we all put our strength together and brought the mighty fish into our view.  Once we got it near the boat, we quickly saw that this was no ordinary fish, but a 20 foot White Sturgeon.  There was no way we were able to get this beast into the small fishing boat, so we quickly snapped as many photos as possible and let the great fish be on its way.  After our adventure was over, we reported my catch to the local fishing shop where we learned that I had caught the largest fish on that lake to date.  Unfortunately, because we didn’t actually bring the fish in, there would be no actual reward, but I will easily argue that the experience was all the reward I needed.  We had an exciting morning and it was time to get some lunch, and we were in luck because the local cafe was serving the most delicious Tomato Basil Soup.