Rich and Creamy Tomato Basil Soup

"I found this recipe HERE . I had never had tomato soup anywhere but from a can until I had some at Panera Bread (restaurant). I was so delicious that I wanted to try to find a recipe for something similar. While this isn't the same, it is definately going in my recipe box. Tomatoes are a little hard to peel. I tried using a vegetable peeler, and I also tried boiling them for five seconds and then peeling the skins off with my fingers...either way it takes a while. I might try canned next time. The only thing I changed is that I left about 1/4 of the tomato chunks, un-pureed, so that it'd be chunky."

INGREDIENTS:

4 tomatoes, peeled, seeded and diced

4 cups (32 oz) tomato juice

14 fresh basil leaves

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

Place tomatoes and juice in a stock pot over medium heat. Simmer for 30 minutes. Puree the tomato mixture along with the basil leaves, and return the puree to the stock pot.
Place the pot over medium heat, and stir in the heavy cream and butter. Season with salt and pepper. Heat, stirring until the butter is melted. Do not boil.

Serves: 4