Too many tomatoes in the garden, and this soup sounded so good! I didn’t find anything comparable on the internet, so winged a version of it in our powerful Wolf blender:
10 small to medium tomatoes
1/2 c. olive oil
3 T. minced garlic
1 T. serrano pepper sauce
2 t. Morton’s kosher salt
1 t. sugar
I did not add any water because 1) we like it thick, and 2) this is for the freezer, and I can always add water when reheating if desired.
I blasted it 5 minutes on #7 and it was as smooth as silk (and steaming hot). I strained it, but it really didn’t need it. Two batches made a total of 3 quarts of soup.
Absolutely delicious! I used plenty of basil and it came through nicely. I can see where increasing the olive oil would make this even more unctuous, and I think I’ll serve it with a drizzle of chili oil when the time comes.
Very nice! I’m not great at reconstructing recipes, so I really rely on other sources. Yours is very accurate. The chili oil is a clever touch that I will borrow the next time I make this soup.
Many thumbs up for unctuousness. I used a brand of diced tomatoes the other day in my crab soup, and I noticed as I was adding them that the label said “Italian diced tomatoes with oil.” It made a noticeable difference for the better in the soup.
(A good time to put in a plug for Cento “petite diced” tomatoes. They’re better than any other diced tomatoes I’ve tried. No oil, but that’s easy to add.)
I like Cento products. These were Sun of Italy - brand is owned by the Pastore family - the distribution center is in Highlandtown, hon (that’s a joke for Baltimoreans) - there’s also a Pastore’s deli in Towson - I’ve never been there but word around town is that their subs are awesome - they also carry a whole line of Sun of Italy products. I have an old Sun of Italy jar of basil - so old that it’s made of glass. Cento products are IMO an under appreciated gem.
I didn’t pre-cook anything. Just threw it all in the blender, the way you do gazpacho. We have a beast of a blender, however - everything was silky smooth and steaming hot after several minutes on high speed.
To some degree, I suppose. It was steaming when I poured it out. It’s possible a longer cook would affect the flavors somewhat, but for my purposes (freezing and reheating), it worked well.
We’ve been enjoying this for years. Cherokee Purple, Old German, Mr. Stripey and some cherry varieties. Special olive oil, garlic garlic garlic, red onion and redwine vinegar. No cheese…
I use a vinaigrette with a bit of balsamic in it. My wife enhances the sandwich with a very thin slice of red onion and some arugula. The tomatoes are from my garden, as is the basil (three varieties).
Summertime, and the living’s Caprese 
