Tomato Basil Soup

Submitted by Kanzeda

"My brother created this knock-off recipe for his wife's favorite soup from a french bakery, 3 hours away from home. It's better than the real thing!"

 

• Ready In: 45mins
• Ingredients: 6
• Serves: 8

ingredients

• 2 cups chicken stock
• 2 cups tomato juice
• 2 (14 1/2 ounce) cans tomatoes
• 12 fresh basil leaves
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1⁄4 lb unsalted butter

directions

1. Combine stock, tomato juice, and tomatoes in pot and simmer for 25 minutes.
2. Add basil and simmer 5 minutes more.
3. Puree the mixture in batches in a blender.
4. Pour soup back into the pot, over low heat add the cream and butter until blended.

Reviews

[Chris White]

Picked this looking for an easy replica of Le Madeleine's tomato-basil soup. This is certainly easy, although I'll offer a few tips/comments on flavor: One - The color is awfully 'orange', kind of like a cheet-o soup. My America's Test Kitchen cookbook suggests pureeing only the solids to try and keep from whipping too much air into the darker tomato liquids (and lightening the color) Two - The tomato juice added a definite V-8 like 'zing' to the flavor, which somewhat overwhelmed the basil. I will probably add more whole tomatoes or some tomato paste next time rather then using the juice to mellow out that tomato bite a little bit. Three - Hot liquids do not act the same as cold ones in the blender! Spewing hot soup all over myself and my kitchen was not a fun experience. I would recommend pureeing only 1 cup at a time in the blender, maybe less, to reduce the risk of burns/mess. Also, WEAR AN APRON or risk getting tomato splashes all over yourself. Four - I added about a tsp of sea salt to the finished product, and cracked some pepper over it in the bowl. 'Salt and pepper to taste' would be a good final step to this one.

 

[Mermaid]

Well, the weather is getting cold and the kids and I have colds so I wanted to find a tomato soup recipe. Am I ever glad I chose yours!! This is, hands down, the best soup I have ever had! I used to work near an Italian restaurant, Cafe Figaro, and would call every day to see what their soup of the day was, b/c they had the best tomato soup. This is just as good if not better. The color is a pinkish red, but that is the color of all creamy tomato soups that I have had. The recipe did not state what size can tomatoes to use so I used 1 28oz can. Thanks for posting. I will TRIPLE this next time.

 

[Vicki in Kansas Bro]

First I have to say I have a hard time just following a recipe, I fowwled this except I used Itailin tomatoes, V-8 juice a splash of whorshesteshire sauce and about 1/4tsp garlic and thyme tasted and added 1/8 tsp crushed red pepper. It really warmed us up, very good, I would like it just alittle thicker but will be made alot this winter!! Served it with grilled Ham and Chesse Sandwiches. Thank You KC for a great recipe.

 

[jenie]

This is the most excellent soup I have ever made at home. Simple steps to prepare and cook. YUMMY! If you know someone who likes soup in anyway shape or form...give them this recipe. It will fast become their favorite!

 

[lovemycrockpots]

Kuddos to your brother. This is SO worth trying. I made it for lunch with a grilled cheese sandwich of course and my kids loved it.I used 2% milk and fesh basil from my garden. I only wish it was thicker maybe cook it down a little longer like 35 mins, anyways was so awesome will make again for sure.