Lisa @take_me_to_the_kitchen
We all have our preferences with this soup. I prefer mine somewhere south of marinara and north of tomato ice cream. I think this one is right in the middle! You know you will need grilled cheese with it, so try cutting some into cubes like croutons.
Here’s the simple 6-ingrediant recipe:
One 28 oz. can tomatoes, San Marzano will give you the best flavor but any whole tomatoes will work.
2 cups chopped onion, various kinds if you have; try yellow, shallot or leeks.
2-3 tbsp. butter
2.5 cups half and half, or mixture of cream and any fat-level milk. It’ll be good no matter the combo, but I would not recommend using plain milk only.
2 tbsp. tomato paste
1 tbsp. kosher salt (sounds like a lot but the dairy needs it).
*red pepper flakes, just a pinch, if you like
In a saucepan, sauté onions in butter until cooked, but not browned.
Add tomato paste and stir to dissolve the paste into the onions.
Add tomatoes and blend; I prefer using a stick (immersion) blender to blend the onions and tomatoes smooth. But you can use a regular blender or food processor for onion mixture and tomatoes, then return them to the pan.
Add the dairy, salt, and the pinch of red pepper flakes.
Bring to boil, then reduce to simmer.
Simmer uncovered for about 30 minutes, stirring often.
Add fresh parsley or fresh basil, if you have them, dried basil may taste to strong.
If you plan to enjoy a grilled cheese sandwich with this, wait until the sandwich has cooled a bit, cut into cubes and add to top of soup.
See you next week!