Tomato Basil Soup with Avocado Cream

Snap your fingers if you opened a can of condensed tomato soup, added milk, and warmed it up with delight. When I was young, tomato soup, with a grilled cheese sandwich, made me a happy girl fast.

Now I’m crazy for thick, chunky, creamy, tomato soup.  Top it with Avocado Cream with fresh chopped green onions, and I’m in heaven…oh yeah, and please don’t forget the beloved grilled cheese sandwich!

Tomato Basil Soup with Avocado Cream

If you’ve got baskets of garden tomatoes ripening this is a great way to use them.  Just blanche fresh tomatoes in boiling water and slip the skins.

Here’s how, begin by making an X on the bottom of your tomatoes and throw them into a pot of boiling water for no more than a minute. Remove them with a slotted spoon, plunge them into a bowl of cold water (or an ice bath), lift them directly back out, and peel back the skin with a knife or your fingers. It will slip off like a charm.  Then just chop the tomatoes up and measure 2 quarts.

When I don’t have scads of fresh tomatoes, I use canned tomatoes, (all winter long), to make this soup. Start with a large stockpot, I like to use my Le Creuset Enameled Cast-Iron French Oven.  Heat olive oil and sweat onions for two to three minutes.  Add garlic, red pepper flakes, thyme, and basil to pot.  Deglaze pan with a splash of water,  and then add chopped tomatoes.  Reduce mixture for 20 to 30 minutes, then remove from heat.  Puree in food processor or blender, or use an immersion blender.  Add cream, and reheat if necessary, but do not boil.

To made Avocado Cream, simply mash 1 avocado till smooth.  Add 1/2 cup of sour cream and combine well.  Drop by heaping tablespoons on top of hot soup.  Garnish with chopped green onions and serve.

5 from 1 reviews

Tomato Basil Soup with Avocado Cream

 

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Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

30 mins

Total time

40 mins

 

So creamy and comforting, Tomato Basil Soup with Avocado Cream, evokes girlhood memories, but this one is all grown up. It's thick, chunky or smooth, your choice. Float a dollop of Avocado Cream on top and garnish with chopped green onions

Author: Renée

Recipe type: Soup

Cuisine: American

Serves: 6 to 8 servings

Ingredients

• 4 16-oz. cans diced tomatoes (or 2 quarts fresh chopped tomatoes)
• 1 diced yellow onion
• 1 Tbsp. fresh minced garlic
• 1 pinch red pepper flakes
• ¼ tsp. dried or fresh thyme
• 2 tsp. dried basil
• ¼ c. olive oil
• 1 c. heavy whipping cream
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 avocado, mashed smooth
• ½ cup sour cream
• 2 green onions, sliced thinly

Instructions

1. Heat olive oil in sauté pan.
2. Sweat onions in olive oil for two to three minutes.
3. Add garlic, red pepper flakes, thyme, and basil to pan.
4. Deglaze pan with a splash of water, then add tomatoes.
5. Reduce mixture for 20 to 30 minutes, then remove from heat.
6. Puree in food processor or blender till smooth, or use an immersion blender for a chunky soup.
7. Add cream.
8. Reheat if necessary, but do not boil. Serve warm.
9. Mash avocado till smooth and add sour cream to it. Combine well.
10. Ladle soup into bowls and top with a generous tablespoon of avocado cream.
11. Garnish with chopped green onion and serve immediately

3.3.3077

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