Tomato Basil Soup

Posted on by Amanda Leave a comment

It’s getting darker in the mornings and weather is dropping below 60F, so it’s soup season! Tomato season is drawing to a close, so the farms near me are rushing to harvest all their tomatoes before the cold sets in. These fresh tomatoes are so juicy and so sweet. I always end up with too many to eat fresh in sandwiches and salads, so I turn to tomato soup when I need to get through them all. This tomato soup thickens up on its own over time and requires very little work to make it shine. It doesn’t require a lot of baby-sitting and there are few ingredients required. After all my ingredients have spent a few hours together, I like to blend them up for a smooth texture. If you like the chunks, leave it as it!

I also like to save some leftover My Favorite Focaccia, chop it up into small cubes, and bake to dry out to make croutons. These croutons are lovely to top the soup with. If you would rather just have some bread to dip into the tomato soup, the fresh focaccia is great too.

Ingredients

Tomatoes – Use any that you like!

Basil/Heavy Cream – Both of these are entirely optional. I love to use fresh basil for this soup, but you can most certainly substitute with dried. I love a splash of the heavy cream in the soup to mellow out the acidity of the tomatoes and make the soup even creamier.

tomatoes
add garlic
a few hours later…
blended with cream
soupy

Tomato Basil Soup

Print Recipe
End the summer by using up your remaining tomatoes with this tomato basil soup
Course Soup
Keyword basil, soup, tomato

Equipment

  • blender

Ingredients

  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 5 lbs tomatoes
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup fresh basil
  • 1/4 cup heavy cream

Instructions

  • Wash, core, and chop tomatoes into quarters. These do not need to be perfect as the tomatoes will cook down.
  • Add tomatoes, salt, olive oil, and garlic to the pot on medium heat.
  • Cover with a lid for 20 minutes for the juices to start coming out of the tomatoes.
  • Uncover the pot, mix, recover, and reduce the heat to medium-low.
  • Leave the soup to simmer for 2-4 hours. The soup will reduce and intensify the tomato flavor.
  • Blend the soup to your desired smoothness.
  • Optional – Stir in heavy cream for extra creaminess and top or blend in some fresh basil. Season with additional salt as needed.

Want more fall soups? Try Pumpkin Soup

Basil Pesto

Posted on by Amanda Leave a comment

Summer’s just getting hotter in the PNW and the herbs are not happy. I’m hearing and seeing herb gardens wilting in the heat! Pick those herbs before they dry up into nothing. If I’m not using my basil to top my pho or throwing it into a noodle or rice stir-fry, I’ll use it to make a pesto. I’ve tried a few grocery store pesto jars, but I’ll always go for my homemade version if I can (I know I’m a snob). I find that pesto from the grocery store can often be overly salty, not basil-y fragrant enough, or oddly sweet. The pesto from the grocery store typically isn’t a very vibrant green either, so you know its not the most fresh.

If you make a large quantity of pesto, it can be frozen for later. I’d recommended freezing in ice cube trays so you can portion out how much you might need at one time. When you need to use it, melt with some leftover pasta water if making pasta or leave in the refrigerator if using as a dip on the side. If storing in the refrigerator, cover the top with a layer of olive oil to prevent oxidation.

Ingredients

Basil – Pesto is generally made with basil, but the basil can be swapped for variety of other herbs. I’ve made pesto before with carrot tops, spinach, or cilantro.

Pine nuts – Basil pesto traditionally uses pine nuts, but this can be substituted for other nuts (not legumes) that you have on hand. I’d recommend using walnuts or cashews. Pine nuts do really give the pesto a richer flavor, so try to stick with that!

Cheeses – I like pecorino romano more than I like parmesano reggiano, so I usually always have that on hand. I use all pecorino romano, but you can use one, the other, or a combination of both!

Olive oil – Umm non-negotiable.

blend it all together
pesto!

Basil Pesto

Print Recipe
I promise, better than the grocery store.
Keyword basil, pesto

Ingredients

  • 2 cups fresh basil packed tight
  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • 1/4 cup cheese parmesan/pecorino
  • 1/4 cup pine nuts
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 1 tsp salt

Instructions

  • Add all ingredients into your blender or mortar and pestle.
  • Mix/blend until completely combined. Adjust for salt.

Make some Fresh Egg Pasta to go with it or serve it on the side of My Favorite Focaccia.