Creamy Tomato Basil Soup
This is the smaller pot for an ordinary dinner: tomato sauce, a few vegetables, basil, and Parmesan, finished with milk. Serve it with toast or a grilled cheese and call dinner handled. Double every ingredient when you want the larger batch.
Adapted from Lauren Allen’s tomato basil soup at Tastes Better From Scratch, using Natasha’s handwritten tomato-sauce version and half of the full-batch quantities: https://tastesbetterfromscratch.com/creamy-tomato-basil-parmesan-soup/
Ingredients
30 ounces tomato sauce
¼ cup (4 tablespoons) butter total, divided
½ cup finely diced carrots
½ cup finely diced onion
½ cup finely diced celery
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1–1½ teaspoons dried basil
¼ teaspoon dried oregano
¼ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup freshly grated Parmesan
¾ cup whole milk
½ teaspoon salt, then adjust to taste
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil (optional)
Instructions
1. Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a soup pot over medium heat. Add the carrots, onion, and celery. Cook, stirring, until the onion softens, about 5–7 minutes. Stir in the garlic briefly at the end.
2. Stir in the tomato paste, tomato sauce, chicken broth, dried basil, oregano, and onion powder. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook until the carrots and celery are tender, about 15–20 minutes. Stir regularly to keep the tomato sauce from catching on the bottom.
3. Take the pot off the heat. Blend with an immersion blender if you want a smoother soup; keeping a little vegetable texture is fine too.
4. In a small saucepan, melt the remaining 2 tablespoons butter over medium-low heat. Stir in the flour and cook, stirring, for 2–3 minutes. Gradually whisk in a few ladles of hot soup until smooth, then stir this mixture back into the soup pot. There are 4 tablespoons butter total in the whole recipe.
5. Return the soup to low heat and simmer gently for a few minutes, stirring, until it thickens slightly. Add the milk, Parmesan, salt, and black pepper. Warm gently, stirring until the cheese melts; avoid a hard boil after the milk goes in.
6. Taste before adding more salt, since tomato sauce and Parmesan vary. Stir in the fresh basil if using, and serve. For the original larger batch, double every ingredient: 60 ounces sauce, ½ cup butter total, 2 cups broth, 1½ cups milk, and 1 cup Parmesan, plus 2 teaspoons each minced garlic and onion powder, with all vegetables, flour, paste, and seasonings doubled too.