This delicious and comforting, creamy tomato soup relies on pantry staples, such as canned whole tomatoes, garlic, onion, and extra-virgin olive oil. Freshly made brown butter crostini add a nice crunch and some richness. Best of all, you can enjoy a bowl of this soup in just 30 minutes and delight people with the alphabet pasta message!
Ingredients
Ingredient Checklist
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 small onion, very thinly sliced
- 2 garlic cloves, smashed and chopped
- 5 cups canned peeled whole tomatoes in their juice (from three 14-ounce cans)
- 1 cup water
- 3/4 cup heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon celery seed
- 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
- Three 3/4-inch-thick slices of baguette
- Alphabet pasta optional. Follow directions on package
Directions
- Step 1
In a large saucepan, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Add the diced onion and chopped garlic and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, approximately 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes and their juice, the water, heavy cream, sugar, crushed red pepper, celery seed and oregano and season with salt and pepper. Bring the soup to a boil over high heat, breaking up the tomatoes with the back of a wooden spoon. Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Step 2
Meanwhile, in a small pan, cook the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter over moderately high heat until it begins to brown, about 1 minute. Scrape the browned butter into a medium bowl. Add the olive oil to the pan. Add the the sliced baguette and cook over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally, until it is slightly browned, about 6 minutes. Transfer the bread to the browned butter and flip twice.
- Step 3
Transfer the tomato soup to a blender and puree until smooth. Return the soup to a clean pot and rewarm the to you desired temperature. Season the soup with salt and pepper. Ladle the soup into bowls and serve with the baguette crostini.
