It’s that time of year… The mornings and evenings are cooler and we begin to crave fall. Yet we are still solidly in summer for 3 more weeks. The garden is bursting with tomatoes, so we are savoring. And blending the two seasons as best we can with pot after pot of the garden fresh tomato soup and warm gooey grilled cheese sandwiches. If only there were a low-carb option for the grilled cheese. I’ve been making tomato soup weekly the past few weeks, and finally settled on this recipe for the BEST tomato soup.

I tried out several different recipes from the internet and my go-to cookbooks, and I thought they tasted just great. BUT Joe and Naomi – my two biggest critics – were convinced I could do better. So I experimented a bit and settled on this recipe.The best tomato soup uses ALL fresh garden tomatoes (but would work with canned, just can’t vouch it’ll be AS tasty), has a tiny bit of sugar to balance out the acidity of the tomatoes, and of course, some heavy cream, because what’s tomato soup without heavy cream?

Notes: You may want to adjust the amount of sugar, salt, and even chicken broth, all depending on the tomatoes you’re using. Mine were very watery and acidic, and not very salty, since I made the tomato sauce myself and added just a bit of salt. More acid probably means you’ll need a bit more sugar (or honey) if you’d like to tame it. And add salt to taste, which will depend on how salty your tomatoes and chicken broth are! If you want a thicker sauce, add just 1 cup of broth, and see what it tastes/looks like. Add more if needed! I decided on 3 cups for my 3 quarts of sauce and it was the perfect taste (but not very thick). Regardless, ENJOY!

The Best Tomato Soup

makes about 4 quarts

Ingredients

• 1 large yellow onion, diced
• 3-5 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp butter (or just evoo to make it vegetarian)
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 3 quarts (or 96 ounces) chunky tomato sauce or diced tomatoes (I used homemade tomato sauce from this summer’s garden tomatoes)
• 3 cups chicken stock (or vegetable stock to make it vegetarian)
• 3 tbsp sugar (or preferred sweetener, but adjust amount accordingly)
• 1 handful fresh basil
• salt & pepper to taste
• heavy cream, for drizzling in each bowl (or omit to make it vegetarian)

Directions

• Read notes above regarding salt, sugar, and broth.
• Sauté onion in butter and oil until translucent. Add garlic, sauté for about a minute.
• Add tomato sauce, chicken stock, sugar, basil (reserving some for garnish if you want).
• Bring to slow boil, then simmer for a few minutes.
• Then, using an immersion blender (or regular blender), carefully puree the soup. You can leave some chunks or puree it all the way.
• Taste and add salt and pepper to taste.
• Ladle into bowls, then drizzle heavy cream into each bowl, garnish with basil leaf and a pinch of black pepper.
• ENJOY with a melty grilled cheese sandwich.