Classic Tomato Puree Soup

Cooking method

1. Step 1:

   

   Get the listed ingredients ready. For a puree soup, use meaty (not watery) tomato varieties with dense flesh and thin skin. To deepen the tomato flavor rather than mask it, round it out with onion, lemon basil, and spices. It's best to cook the dish in cold-pressed olive oil.

2. Step 2:

   

   Rinse the tomatoes, put them in a deep bowl, pour boiling water over them, and leave for 3–5 minutes depending on their size. Then move them straight into ice water — the temperature change makes the skins slip off easily.

3. Step 3:

   

   While the tomatoes are in the water, peel, rinse, and finely dice the onion. Heat olive oil in a cauldron or nonstick saucepan and sweat the onion over low heat until translucent or golden, stirring now and then.

4. Step 4:

   

   Peel the tomatoes, cut out the cores, and dice them small or medium.

5. Step 5:

   

   Add them to the sautéed onion. Simmer over medium heat until the tomatoes release their juice.

6. Step 6:

   

   Season with salt and pepper and add hot water. Be sure to taste, and if the tomatoes are tart, balance it with a little sugar. Turn the heat to its lowest setting and simmer the dish for about 10 minutes. If you like, add dried herbes de Provence, dried basil, oregano, and so on.

7. Step 7:

   

   Turn off the heat and pour everything into a blender jar or food-processor bowl. Purée until smooth. If you let it cool first and then purée, you'll need to reheat the soup to a boil afterward.

8. Step 8:

   

   Ladle it hot into bowls, sprinkle with chopped fresh herbs and ground black pepper, and garnish with lemon basil. You can serve this first course with croutons or garlic croutons.