Now is the Time!

One of my favorite things in the world is a hot bowl of good tomato soup with a crusty piece of toasted bread, with maybe some cheese melted on it, on a cool late summer evening. Yes, it sounds idyllic and hokey but whatever.

Here is how it should be made in my opinion. Five ingredients. Yes, five, and that includes salt, pepper and olive oil. No basil and DEFINITELY no cream. Don't even think about! The key is good tomatoes. They need to be super ripe. I'm talking so red (assuming it's not a different colored heirloom tomato), so soft and so sweet it almost melts in your hand when you pick it up.

The BEST Tomato Soup

5lbs VERY, VERY ripe local tomatoes, roughly chopped

1 large onion, sliced

salt/cracked black pepper to taste

extra virgin olive oil

In a heavy bottom pot slowly sweat the onion until it's very soft and translucent in about two tablespoons of EVOO. Salt the onion while this is happening. Add the chopped tomatoes and make sure to add all the juice off the cutting board too. Season with salt and pepper. Bring the tomatoes to almost a boil and simmer for about an hour or until the tomatoes have completely broken down.

Working in batches, puree the soup in a blender and strain it through a fine mesh strainer. Discard all the seeds left in the strainer. Return the puree back to to the pot and bring back to a simmer, season it again with salt and pepper if needed. Laddle into warm bowls and enjoy!

Feel free to serve it with some crusty bread, maybe with melted cheese on it. Cheddar. Ok. Parmesan-Reggiano, better. Manchego, best! If you want to get crazy, drizzle a little good EVOO on the soup, in the bowl. Now that is summer in a bowl.