Deep rich Italian tomato sauce combined with the crisp flavor of fresh herbs and thick creamy comfort: easy recipe for amazing Creamy Tomato Basil Soup.
Creamy Tomato Basil Soup
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The making of this soup takes time, but not energy.
The base is a mix of an easy Italian Soffrito, Tomato Paste, and White Wine. Then once we’ve developed those flavors we add a large can of crushed tomatoes, chicken stock, and some special spices. Let the whole pot simmer for a couple hours, then add milk and develop those flavors even further.
Finally we blend the mixture, add cream and fresh herbs, and enjoy the most delicious soup you will ever make in your whole entire life!
Swimming in Soup
During the summer my kids and I spend our days swimming. After a day in the hot sun, we come home to our air-conditioned little house and we freeze.
Haha! First world problems: I know.
I’m not complaining, it’s just something that happens every time. So I’ve started taking steps (on top of turning the air conditioner to a higher temperature point) before we leave to prepare for when we come home.
I start soup.
I hereby declare: the most delicious post-swimming meal you could ever eat is homemade creamy tomato basil soup with grilled cheese!
Creating this Soup
As you may have guessed from Italian Meat Sauce recipe and my Mozzarella Tomato Salad recipe; I have a love of the tomato and basil flavor combination.
Back when I was first beginning to explore my love of cooking; one of the first recipes I attempted was a homemade tomato sauce. It was delicious, but over time it’s gotten even better.
The first time I used that sauce I put it in a Lasagna and I invited friends over to eat it with us. The lasagna was a total disaster you guys! DISASTER.
In fact, it was a soup. Haha!
Which is in fact exactly what spurred the idea for this Creamy Tomato Basil Soup.
Spice Game Changer
The base of the sauce was good. It just needed to be cooked longer to thicken it.
However, patience is not one of my virtues. At all.
And therefore, it took me years to figure out that all the soup needed was more time.
I also learned of two spices that took that soup from good to better and eventually best.
- Nutmeg.
In the amazing recipe book “Pizzeria Mozza” chef Nancy Silverton uses nutmeg as one of the seasonings in her Ragu.
The addition of that spice has been a real game changer! It’s not enough to make the flavor prevalent, it’s just enough to enhance the other flavors. - Crushed Red Pepper Flakes.
Crazy how just a spoonful of these little babies can add that little bit of “oomph!” or fire that this soup needed!
Okay, enough talk! Let’s eat!!!
Recipe for Creamy Tomato Basil Soup:
Save RecipeIngredients
- 2 Carrots, peeled and minced
- 1/2 onion, minced
- 2 Tablespoon Butter
- 3 Tablespoons Garlic, minced
- 2TBS Water
- 1 4-6oz can or tube Tomato Paste
- 3 dashes of Nutmeg
- 2-4 dashes Crushed red pepper flakes
- 1.5 cup White Wine (such as Sauvignon Blanc or Vermouth)
- 4 cups Water
- 4 cubes Chicken Bullion
- 1 large can Crushed Tomatoes (usually around 30 oz)
- 1 tsp dried Oregano
- 1 tsp dried Basil
- 1 and 1/4 c Milk
- 1 cup Cream
- 2 TBS Fresh Basil, chopped fine
Instructions
- Combine Carrots, Onion, garlic and Butter and season generously with salt and pepper; in a Large Sauce pan on med-low for 15 minutes, stirring when needed and adding 1 TBS of water here and there as needed to keep the vegetables from browning.
- Then push the vegetable mixture out toward the edges of the pan.
- In the now vacant center of your saucepan, add the tomato paste, crushed red pepper flakes, and nutmeg.
- Let it sit on the heat until it has warmed through, then stir it into the other ingredients already in the pot.
- Cook for 2 minutes, then up the temperature to medium.
- Cook for ten minutes, stirring often to keep anything from browning.
- Now add your wine and increase the heat to med-high-high.
- Let everything cook until the wine is halfway evaporated (about 8 minutes).
- Add the water, Bullion, Crushed Tomatoes, and dry seasonings to the pot and bring to a simmer.
- Reduce heat to med-low-low and cover pot with a lid.
- Cook like this for 2.5 hours, stirring every thirty minutes or so to keep anything from cooking to the bottom of your pot.
- (Or cook on low for 3 to 3.5 hours without needing much stirring--- so you can go play!)
- After letting the flavors cook down, Turn heat up to med-high and add your milk.
- Once the sauce begins to simmer, reduce heat down to low again.
- Let cook another 30 minutes then blend in batches until all of soup is smooth.
- Stir in Cream and fresh basil.
- Let flavors combine and heat through another 15 minutes over med-low heat.
- Serve and Enjoy!
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