TOMATO BASIL SOUP. The Step By Step guide begins on the following page.

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1 TOMATO BASIL SOUP Serves 4 to 6. By Dennis W. Viau; modified from several recipes. Tomato soup was one of my favorites when I was growing up in New England. Even Campbell s soup, with plenty of saltine crackers, was good. Made with fresh tomatoes and basil, the soup easily surpasses anything available in a can. It is also easy to make. This is one of the soups I regularly eat during the winter months. I love soups in winter. Ingredients: 1½ pounds (750g) ripe tomatoes, skinned and chopped 1 medium or large shallot, diced 1 teaspoon sugar 2 tablespoons tomato paste 1 tablespoon white balsamic vinegar 1¼ cups (300ml) vegetable stock 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil Salt and freshly ground black pepper Optional: extra chopped fresh basil for garnish 1 Directions: Heat a saucepan of water on the stove until it comes to a rapid boil. Cut a shallow X through the skin on one end of each tomato. Pierce a tomato with a fork (usually through the stem end) and plunge into the boiling water. Hold it beneath the surface for 10 to 15 seconds to loosen the skin. Set aside to cool. Repeat with the other tomatoes. Peel and chop the tomatoes. If you prefer, you can cut them in half through the middle and squeeze out the seeds. Some cooks like to strain the seeds, adding the liquid to the tomatoes and discarding the seeds. Place tomatoes, shallot, sugar, tomato paste, white balsamic vinegar, and stock in a large pot. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce the heat to low and simmer 30 minutes. Add two tablespoons of the chopped basil. Purée in a blender (let the soup cool first) or in the pot (still hot) using an immersion blender. Season with salt and pepper. To serve, reheat gently without boiling. Optional: Bowls of the soup can be garnished lightly with a little chopped fresh basil before serving. The Step By Step guide begins on the following page

2 1 STEP-BY-STEP 2 The tomato will be easier to peel if the skin is cut at one end. With a sharp knife cut an X through the skin at the end opposite the stem. 2 Pierce each tomato with a fork and hold it under boiling water for about 10 seconds. The heat will cook the flesh under the skin, releasing it to peel away easily when the tomato has cooled.

3 3 3 After peeling and discarding the skin, you can cut each tomato in half, through the middle (or equator) and then squeeze out the seeds, which can be bitter. Some cooks will strain the juice, discarding the seeds. The juice can be added to the soup. There won t be much of it, but it does have good flavor. 4 You might need to push the juice through the strainer with a spatula to gather most of it.

4 5 4 Chop the tomatoes coarsely (they ll be blended into a soup later; so you don t need to be fussy about the chopping) and place them in a large pot. 6 I diced my shallot rather small to extract the most flavor from it.

5 7 5 Add the diced shallot, sugar, tomato paste, vinegar, and vegetable stock to the pot and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and let simmer for 30 minutes. 8 While the soup is cooking, prepare the basil by chopping it finely. This will be added at the end of the cooking time.

6 9 6 As an optional garnish, you can roll up a few fresh basil leaves into a little cigar-shaped roll and slice through them very thinly to make a chiffonade. A chiffonade is like little threads, whereas a julinenne is more like strings. I am using a ceramic knife here because fresh basil tends to darken when cut with a metal knife. 10 At the end of the cooking time add the chopped fresh basil.

7 11 7 You can allow the soup to cool down and then blend it in either a blender or food processor. I am using an immersion blender to purée the soup right in the pot. As a final step, taste the soup and adjust for salt and pepper. 12 Reheat the soup, if necessary, to serving temperature without bringing it to a boil. Plate and garnish lightly, if desired, with a little of the basil chiffonade. Conclusion This is not a difficult soup to make. Cooking time is only 30 minutes and with the preparation of the tomatoes and other ingredients total time will probably be no more than one hour. Made with fresh tomatoes, this soup is delicious and can be a welcome lunch on a cold and rainy day.