How To Make Tomato Soup

1. Purchase all the necessary ingredients. Recommended tomatoes are Elegance, Aranca, Jack Hawkins, Santa, Jester, Mona Lisa and Baby Sweetheart.

2. Prepare the ingredients. If the tomatoes are on the vine, remove any green parts and cut the tomatoes into quarters. Remove the skin on the garlic and onion, and chop both into small pieces. Chop up the basil, then move it to the side.

3. Saute the onions and garlic in olive oil on the stove top for about 10 minutes or until the onions are soft and translucent.

4. Add the tomato paste to the pot, then stir in the tomatoes, sugar, salt, pepper, garlic and bay leaves, and let the ingredients stew on a low temperature for about 10 minutes. Stir the ingredients every few minutes to ensure they do not stick to the pot.

5. Slowly add chicken stock, then the cream, to the pot while stirring the other vegetables. Turn up the temperature until the soup is bubbling, then turn it down again. Put on the top of the pot and cook for about 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.

6. Remove the bay leaves, then use an immersion blender to puree the soup directly in the pot. If you do not have an immersion blender, ladle the soup into a regular blender to puree it, then pour it back into the pot.

7. Heat the soup on medium heat for two to three minutes or until you start to see bubbles.

8. Pour the soup into bowls and garnish with the prepared basil. Tomato soup can be served hot or cold.