Recipe: Perfect Creamy Tomato Basil Soup

Creamy Tomato Basil Soup.

You can have Creamy Tomato Basil Soup using 20 ingredients and 7 steps. Here is how you cook it.

Ingredients of Creamy Tomato Basil Soup

1. Prepare 2 tbs of butter.
2. You need 1 tsp of olive oil.
3. It's 1 of medium onion - chopped.
4. It's 3 cloves of garlic - crushed.
5. You need 2 (14.5 oz) of cans whole tomatoes - drained.
6. Prepare 6 cups of tomato juice.
7. You need 4-6 tbs of granulated sugar.
8. It's 2 tsp of chicken soup base (or 2 cubes bullion).
9. It's 1/4 tsp of black pepper.
10. You need to taste of sea salt.
11. Prepare 1 cup of evaporated milk.
12. Prepare 1/4 cup of chopped fresh basil.
13. You need of Optional garnishes (per bowl).
14. You need 1 tsp of chiffonade of fresh basil.
15. It's 1 tsp of chopped fresh parsley.
16. You need 3-4 of seasoned croutons.
17. Prepare 2 tsp of shredded mozzarella or parmesan.
18. You need of couple dashes Tabasco sauce.
19. You need of drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.
20. You need pinch of cayenne powder or smoked paprika.

Creamy Tomato Basil Soup step by step

1. Melt butter with olive oil in a 3 to 4 quart stock pot over medium heat. Add onions and garlic. Sautee until onions are translucent. About 5 - 7 minutes..
2. Transfer onion and garlic to blender. Add drained cans of whole tomatoes. Cover and pulse until you have a coarse puree. Note: You may want to vent the lid slightly so steam doesn't pop the lid off..
3. Transfer puree back to stockpot over medium high heat. Add tomato juice, soup base and 3 tbs of the sugar. Taste and add up to 1 more tbs sugar at this time. Note: The sugar is used to help cut the acidity of the tomatoes. The acidity of tomatoes can vary from batch to batch so always start low when adding the sugar..
4. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium and simmer uncovered for 20 - 25 minutes to reduce slightly (about the consistency of a thin gravy). Taste soup after it has reduced. Add pepper, salt to taste, and up to 2 tbs more sugar as needed/desired (I normally use the full 6 tbs)..
5. Reduce heat to low. Once soup has stopped bubbling stir in evaporated milk until well incorporated. Then stir in chopped basil. Cover and let sit about 5 minutes for flavors to blend..
6. Dish up and garnish with any combination of suggested garnishes above..
7. Alternate version: For a smoother consistency, before adding evaporated milk carefully run soup through a fine mesh sieve to remove all the solids. Return to pot, then add evaporated milk and basil as in step 5..