Creamy Tomato Soup With Buttery Croutons (Food and Wine)

Submitted by AmyZoe

"Yowzers. This is terrific. I love how creamy this is, and the homemade croutons top it off nicely. Great with grilled cheese or mac n cheese or just by itself. I doubled the recipe, but I'll post as written."

 

• Ready In: 30mins
• Ingredients: 14
• Serves: 6

ingredients

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 medium onion, very thinly sliced
• 3 garlic cloves, smashed
• 5 cups canned whole tomatoes in their juice (use three 14 ounce cans if not using fresh or canned)
• 1 cup water
• 2⁄3 cup heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1⁄4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1⁄4 teaspoon celery seed
• 1⁄4 teaspoon dried oregano
• salt, to taste
• pepper, to taste
• 4 thick slices bread, crusts trimmed and bread cut into 3/4 inch dice

directions

1. In a large saucepan, melt a tablespoon of the butter in a tablespoon of the olive oil.
2. Add the sliced onion and smashed garlic and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until softened about 5 minutes.
3. Add the tomatoes and their juice, the water, heavy cream, sugar, crushed red pepper, celery seed, and oregano and season with salt and pepper.
4. Bring the soup to a boil over high heat, breaking up the tomatoes with the back of a spoon. Reduce the heat to moderate and simmer for 10 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, in a small skillet, cook the remaining tablespoon of butter over moderately high heat until it begins to brown, about 1 minute.
6. Scrape the browned butter into a medium bowl. Add the olive oil to the skillet. Add the diced bread and cook over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally, until it is slightly browned, about 6 minutes. Transfer the bread to the browned butter and toss well.
7. Working in batches, transfer the tomato soup to a blender and puree until smooth.
8. Return the soup to a clean pot and rewarm the soup if necessary.
9. Season the soup with salt and pepper.
10. Ladle the soup into bowls and serve with the croutons.