Clements Kitchen Chronicles: A Series
This week in the kitchen, we slowly dipped ourselves into the crisper air and early setting sun. Fall is knocking and the garden yield has generously handed over it’s last summer bounty. I am not ready, this transition away from summer hurts this year. So I needed some soup for the soul and luckily our plum and cherry tomatoes were ready for the pot. I re-planted basil in July thinking I was being clever, anticipating this very moment when I needed a heaping of basil for my favorite tomato soup recipe. But I killed those basil plants about three weeks ago. (I say re-planted because I already had killed my basil early in June which I had planted from seed. Basil and I are learning how to get along, we are complicated.)
This recipe is basic and boujee all in one because two words: Ina Gartin. I have always appreciated her recipes and tend to use them as bones for many of my dishes but somewhere in her process she loses me. For instance, this recipe called for four cups of basil which I feel is just excessive. That is almost two whole basil plants and with the current inflation, the price of at least one of my children. Kidding. So I added two cups instead and let me tell you, the basil still pops.
Between the slow roasted tomatoes, which adds a beautiful tangy sweetness to the acidity of the basil and fresh crushed tomatoes, this recipe is lovely. Or as Hudson declared, “It tastes like pasta sauce.” Which I fully interpret as a compliment. The only true adjustment I make to this recipe is a drizzle of heavy cream at the end after plating. One, it looks nice. Two, the extra fat rounds the dish out and helps with the acidity, it is a rich meal!
We of course had some sourdough grilled cheese sandwiches to dip into the soup…. a comfort meal to the max. If you want the recipe, click the button below or the link at the top! Food Network and Ina Garten for the win.
