Fire Roasted Tomato Basil Soup

This is a delicious take on tomato basil soup from the Novice Chef. I had left over soup for a week that heated up perfectly for lunch. I was planning to do the grilled mozzarella and proscuitto sandwich with this but *made a big salad instead because it had been a long day. *made = salad buffet at Whole Foods, quick and easy.

Grocery List:

• Olive oil
  
• 3 cans of Fire Roasted Tomatoes
• 6 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 1/2 cup Half & Half
• 1 tbsp. red pepper flakes
• 20 fresh basil leaves, chiffonaded
  

In a large pot or dutch oven, heat about two pours of olive oil and add your onions. Once translucent, add five of the six chopped cloves of garlic and stir well until combined.


Now add the cans of fire roasted tomatoes, cooking over medium heat and stirring well, then cover for about 15 minutes.


While it simmers for 15, chiffonade your basil like so:
Stack a few leaves...


Roll up tight...


Slice along the horizontal "axis", if you will, to create strips...


Uncover and add the chicken broth followed by the half & half, let simmer and thicken, while it reduces. I like my soup a little creamier so I added a tiny bit more.


Now, add the last clove of chopped garlic, fresh basil (about 15 of the chiffonaded leaves, save the rest for garnish), salt and pepper. I also added a few shakes of some dried parsley and oregano that I had, just because. Finally, add the red pepper flakes.


If you have an immersion blender, now would be the time to use it - if not, a blender would work as well. If using the hand blender, this process will take about 8-10 minutes. Move it around the pot to help mix everything together and puree those tomato chunks. Once you have met your desired consistency, stop. taste. and??


If you've reached your perfect end product, ladle into bowls, garnish with some leftover basil strips and enjoy!