Tomato Soup

Foreword

For a long time Chris did not like tomato sauces, until he found a particular Italian restaurant in Pittsburgh which served a delicious chicken parmesan (and also happened to be a good first date restaurant). It took a while to figure out why it was so tasty, but in the end it was a simple recipe with a key ingredient; fresh basil. This tomato soup is based on that recipe (and also makes a great spaghetti sauce).

Ingredients

• 1 28 oz can whole peeled tomatoes
• ¼ tsp salt
• ⅛ tsp ground black pepper
• ½ tsp red pepper flakes
• 8g fresh basil (divided)
• 1 Tbsp olive oil

Directions

1. Put the tomatoes (including the juice), salt, ground black pepper, and red pepper flakes into a blender and liquefy.
2. Pour ¾ of the soup into a pot (keep just enough such that the blender will still work).
3. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Meanwhile, put most of the basil into blender and blend. Reserve some of the basil leaves for topping the soup, to taste.
5. Add the olive oil to the pot, and pour the remaining soup from the blender into the pot.
6. Stir well to incorporate.
7. Simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
8. Cut the remaining basil by stacking a few leaves and then cutting into strips (optimally with scissors).
9. Ladle the soup into bowls, and top with basil.

Notes

Yes, canned whole peeled tomatoes are what we recommend. They strike a great balance between convenience (shelf-stable and pre-peeled) and flavor (other forms of canned tomato seem to pick up an odd taste).