Lightened Tomato-Basil Soup

Today, was the day I had been waiting for....a rainy day!!  I have been craving some Tomato-Basil Soup but it has been so hot I didn't want to make it.  But today....it rained pretty much all day and so it was a soup-kind-of-day!

I found this soup recipe in my Nordstrom Friends and Family Cookbook (love Nordstrom...best store ever)!  I've made it before and it is terrific but I really wanted to lighten it up a bit.  

For some reason, I thought I always followed recipes to the tee.    However,  since starting this blog, I now realize there are very few recipes that I follow to the tee.  I like to change a little bit here and a little bit there.  The recipes just give me a good base to work from.  This Tomato-Basil Soup recipe was no exception.  Even though the basic recipe is the same, I tweaked it here and there to my liking.  Hope you like it too!

Summer Tomato and Basil Soup (serves 8-10)

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

5 carrots, peeled and chopped

1 large yellow onion, chopped

2 large leaves of fresh basil, chopped

3 cans (28 ounces each) San Marzano whole tomatoes in puree

14 ounces vegetable broth

1 cup of 2% milk

3/4 cup of heavy whipping cream

Kosher salt (I used about 2-3 teaspoons)

Freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons lightly packed fresh basil leaves, cut into fine ribbons

In a 6-8 quart saucepan over medium heat, warm the oil and coat the bottom of the pan.

Chop carrots and onions

Add chopped carrot & onion to pan

Add Chopped Basil

Saute until softened - 10-12 minutes

Add tomatoes including puree

Add Vegetable Broth and bring just to a boil.  Reduce the heat to low and simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes to blend the flavors

Remove from the heat.   Puree the soup in food processor working in batches.

Puree until smooth

Return pureed soup back to saucepan.

Add milk and heavy whipping cream and place over medium heat.
Warm until heated through.

Season with salt and pepper to your liking

 Ladle the soup into bowls, garnish with remaining basil, and serve immediately!

I toasted some sliced, french bread, put a slice a camembert cheese on top (next time I will use Brie cheese) and melted it in the oven.  Then I drizzled it with fresh, local honey and served alongside of the soup!

But in the meantime.....

I really liked the cans that the tomatoes were in....they looked old to me!  

I went to a local flower shop and picked out some flowers that looked like wildflowers!

And I arranged them in the cans! 

Nothing like fresh flowers to brighten a dreary day!

Not bad for a rainy Monday 

Hope your Monday was a good one too!