Tomato Soup

The first snow of the new year fell in Connecticut this past Saturday.  Stuck inside all day I decided to make my son's favorite and the quintessential American comfort food- tomato soup.
For years there have been debates if the tomato is a fruit or a vegetable?  It's the state vegetable of both New Jersey and Arkansas, but is considered the state fruit in Tennessee?!  According to the Oxford Dictionary and scientifically speaking the tomato is a fruit and not a vegetable.  The question had legal implications in the 1800's when the US had a tax on vegetables, but not on fruits.  Believe it or not, the US Supreme Court ruled (for tax reasons) that the tomato was a vegetable, because they are served with dinner and not for dessert.  To this day the tomato remains a fruit when not dealing with the IRS. Kind of a funny looking fruit if you ask me.
Campbell's Soup came out in 1897 with a condensed version of tomato soup and it's been one of their top sellers and American favorites since.
It's easy, healthy and when paired with grilled cheese dinner, is made. My tomato soup is a combination of Ina Garten and Tyler Florence's tomato soup recipes.  I have made it several times tweaking it along the way.  The recipe I follow is below...Tried and True- enjoy!

Tomato Soup

Ingredients:

2 cans of 28 ounces whole plum tomatoes drained with juices set aside

6 gloves of garlic

1 1/2 cups of chopped onions

1/4 cup of olive oil

1 quart (box) of vegetable stock

3 bay leaves

4 tablespoons of butter 

1 cup of chopped fresh basil

1/4 teaspoon of crushed red pepper

Salt and pepper to taste

Drain the cans of tomatoes reserving their juices

Chop onions and smash garlic cloves

Place tomatoes, onion and garlic on a cookie sheet

Pour olive oil over all of it and sprinkle with salt and pepper

Put in a 400 degree oven and roast for 30 minutes or until caramelized

In meantime put tomato juices and broth in stock pot and boil with bay leaves

Add caramelized tomatoes, onions and garlic mix into pot

Add butter to the pot

Boil and reduce heat and simmer

Remove the bay leaves and use an immersion hand blender to puree soup until smooth

Sprinkle chopped basil in soup and season with salt and pepper as necessary

Serve immediately, put in fridge for a few days or freeze for a few months!!  I promise it won't last long though...it's that good!