Fresh Tomato Soup with Basil

By susanwadle

Ingredients

• 5 lb plum tomatoes (beefsteak tomatoes or 5 plum tomatoes cored and quartered)
• 1 lb tomato (medium sized cored and diced)
• 2 onions (chopped)
• 8 garlic cloves (peeled and left)
• 1 garlic clove (minced)
• 3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• salt
• sugar
• 1 cup fresh basil (chopped)

Preparation

Step 1

1 Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 450°F Combine quartered tomatoes, onions, whole garlic cloves, oil, 1/2 teaspoons salt and 1/4 teaspoons sugar in large roasting pan. Roast, stirring once or twice, until tomatoes are brown in spots, about 1 1/2 hours. Let cool 5 minutes. Working in two batches, process roasted tomato mixture in food processor until smooth. (Pureed mixture can be refrigerated for up to 1 day).
2 When ready to serve, combine diced tomatoes, minced garlic, basil, and 1/4 teaspoons salt in bowl and marinate for 30 minutes. Transfer to large saucepan, add pureed tomato mixture, and simmer over medium heat until diced tomatoes are slightly softened, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and sugar to taste. Serve.