We are so pampered by the fact that we have shelves after shelves of canned tomatoes in every supermarket and grocery stores. Simply take the one that we need and then we can skip the tedious task (for some people) of preparing the tomatoes. Tomatoes do not have the tricky skin of pineapple, so why think that it is so hard to prepare from fresh tomatoes. Even when it is winter, you can still find some other varieties of tomatoes that are sold fresh.
Here is the news, fresh tomatoes may have dangerous chemicals. So why try to consume something that is dangerous. Would mothers give these chemicals to their children just to be able to save 10 to 15 minutes of preparation? Well, here is a recipe to help you save the time but can still serve the beloved family with fresh and healthy tomato, the fresh tomato soup.
Before you start, you will need to know that you should spare 1 hour and fifteen minutes in order to be able to serve 4 people. Here are the ingredients:
3 tablespoons of olive oil (choose the extra virgin or other good quality olive oil)
1.5 cups of chopped red onions that come from 2 large red onions.
2 carrots that have been chopped but leave them unpeeled
A tablespoon of minced garlic that come from 3 large cloves
4 pounds of coarsely chopped vine ripened tomatoes that come from 5 large tomatoes
1.5 teaspoon of sugar
1 tablespoon of tomato paste
0.25 cup of packed chopped fresh basil leaves for garnish
0.25 cup of Julienned basil leaves for garnish
3 cups of chicken stock (if you go with all the fresh ingredients, you should also go with the homemade chicken stock)
A tablespoon of kosher salt
2 tablespoons of black pepper, preferablythe freshly ground one
0.75 cup of heavy cream
Croutons for the soup garnish
fresh tomato soup
Cooking directions:
Heat the olive oil by using a large pot. Use low to medium heat only. Let it simmer before you add the carrots and onions. Sautee the two ingredients for about 10 minutes or until you find them to be tender.
Add garlic to the mixture and then cook for a minute.
Add tomatoes, tomato paste, sugar, basil, salt, chicken stock, pepper and then stir them well.
When the soup is boiling, lower the heat and then take out the cover.
Leave it on the heat for another 30 to 40 minutes.
Add the heavy cream to the soup
Process it with a food mill and then add the crouton before serving.
