Ultra-Creamy Tomato Soup With Basil Oil Recipe

While Campbell's canned tomato soup may have achieved pop-art immortality as the subject of an Andy Warhol painting, homemade soup is far more flavorful and satisfying to make, and perhaps just as satisfying to look at. Developer Julianne De Witt tells us her creamy roasted tomato soup is "comforting, wholesome, and easy to prepare."  The roasting step, she explains, makes the tomatoes "sweeter and more concentrated" by evaporating some of the moisture.

This soup recipe is perfect for meal prepping since De Witt thinks it tastes even better the next day once the flavors have had a chance to meld. It will stay fresh for up to three days in the refrigerator, but can also be frozen since it doesn't contain enough cream to curdle.

The classic pairing for tomato soup is a grilled cheese sandwich, of course (use coconut oil instead of butter to make it extra-crispy). You can also keep things light by serving the soup with a simple green salad or turn it into a hearty one-pot meal by adding sausage chunks and rice or pasta.

The soup itself is made from fresh tomatoes, shallots, garlic, olive oil, heavy cream, vegetable stock, salt, pepper, and thyme (if you don't have fresh, substitute 1 ½ teaspoons of dried). You'll also need butter and bread cubes to make croutons, plus some fresh basil that will be used to infuse more olive oil to dribble over the top.

Preheat the oven to 425 F.

Place the tomatoes, shallots, and garlic cloves on a large baking sheet.

Drizzle with olive oil and season with 1 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon pepper.

Sprinkle on the thyme and roast tomatoes in the oven for 40 minutes, until soft.

While tomatoes are roasting, prepare the croutons by adding 1 tablespoon butter and 1 tablespoon olive oil to a pan over medium heat.

When the butter has melted, add the bread cubes and toast on all sides. Season with ¼ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper.

Prepare the basil oil by blanching the basil leaves for 30 seconds in simmering water.

Remove the basil leaves from the water into a jar.

Add ½ cup olive oil to the jar and use an immersion blender to blend until smooth.

Strain the oil through cheesecloth into a container.

Using tongs, squeeze the remaining oil from the cheesecloth.

Add the roasted tomato mixture to a soup pot.

Using an immersion blender, blend the tomatoes until smooth.

Pour in the vegetable stock and add more salt and pepper to taste.

Stir in the cream.

Warm the soup to the desired temperature then ladle the soup into bowls.

Drizzle the soup with basil oil and top with croutons. Serve immediately.

The best tomatoes to use are flavorful ones, of course, since tasteless tomatoes won't make for much of a soup. Roma tomatoes are good since they're low in both seeds and moisture, while cherry tomatoes add some sweetness to the mix. Beefsteak tomatoes might be a bit juicy, but they'll still work since the roasting step will help to dry them out.

In winter, the tomatoes you find in the store may not be too tasty. In this case, you might want to use canned tomatoes instead of fresh ones. There's no shame in doing so since many chefs prefer canned tomatoes for homemade pasta sauce and other recipes. Canned tomatoes can also be roasted, which helps to deepen their flavor. Choose whole canned tomatoes, then drain them thoroughly. (You can save the liquid to replace part of the vegetable stock.) Cut the canned tomatoes in half, then oil, season, and cook them as per the recipe directions. Once the tomatoes have been cooked and pureed, you won't notice much difference in texture from the fresh kind.

Two-fer recipes are great, but this recipe is actually a three-fer since you not only get both soup and croutons but also a basil-infused oil. While any extra croutons can be used in another soup or as a salad topping, leftover basil oil can be used in any recipe where you'd use fresh or dried basil. Basil oil would be a great addition to most salad dressings, especially the lemony vinaigrette that tops our summer squash and basil burrata salad. You could also pour it over a salad or add it to pesto to boost the basil flavor. Other uses for basil oil include sauteing garlic for homemade marinara, stirring into store-bought sauce, or elevating scrambled eggs.

"Basil oil is a versatile garnish that can be used in many ways — pretty much anywhere you would use fresh basil," De Witt tells us. "In addition to soups, drizzle this oil over a caprese salad, omelets, roasted veggies, seafood." You could also take a cue from another popular flavored oil, truffle oil, and make your own french fries using the basil oil instead.