Tomato Soup

By ruhroh

This tomato soup is so rich and thick you'll swear it's laden with cream and butter. Nope! The trick to this recipe is really good tomatoes. Don't try to use mealy, pale supermarket tomatoes. The soup will be bland.

Ingredients

• 2 T olive oil
• 1 yellow or white onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 pounds tomatoes, de-seeded, chopped
• 1/4 t red pepper flakes
• 1 T brown sugar
• 1/2 t thyme, dried
• 4 oz. bread, crust removed (about 4 small slices)
• 12 oz chicken or vegetable stock
• 1 T balsamic vinegar
• black pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup croutons (optional)
• 2 T blue cheese crumbles (optional)

Preparation

Step 1

Heat oil in a stock pot or tall saucepan. Add onion and garlic; saute for 5 minutes. Add tomatoes and stir to combine. Add pepper, sugar, thyme and bread to mixture; cook for 3 minutes. With an immersion blender or food processor, blend the mixture. If using an immersion blender, take care not to splatter tomatoes all over yourself! (This is why you need a tall pan.) Slowly add stock to mixture and combine. Simmer for 10 minutes. Add vinegar during last two minutes.