Cream of Tomato Soup

 Ingredients

• 3 pounds ripe, red tomatoes (You can always use organic canned tomatoes instead)
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 3-4 cloves of garlic
• 1 teaspoon crushed dried basil &-or oregano
• 2 tablespoon butter
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste (I use my own homemade stash from the freezer)
• 2 cups  coconut milk
• 2 teaspoons of organic sugar
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Optional: 1 heaping tablespoon potato flour, 1/2 cup water
• Fresh basil and cracked pepper to garnish

Cream of Tomato Soup Steps

1. Wash the tomatoes. Remove the stem ends and cut into quarters.
2. Place the cut tomatoes into a large pot to cook. Turn the heat on low. Mash two tomatoes to release a bit of juice so the initial heat does not cause any burning. Simmer slowly until the tomatoes are reduced to about 1/3. Plan about an hour for this.
3. In a small skillet saute the onions, garlic and basil in butter until the onions just begin to brown. Add them to the tomato pot along with the tomato paste and cook about another ten minutes.
4. Put this tomato mix through a sieve, removing the tomato skins, seeds and dry onion. You now have a very thick tomato sauce. (If you are making huge amounts for the freezer, this is the point to stop and let the sieved mixture cool for packaging.)
5. Return the sieved tomato mix to the pot. Keep the flame on low while you heat the cream in the skillet used for the onions. Cook the cream down to about half.
6. Add the sugar to the tomato mix. Stir. 
7. Stir the reduced cream into the tomato mix. Salt and pepper to taste.The soup is now ready. If you like your tomato soup with a bit more body, you can mix the potato flour with water and slowly stir into the soup. Cook another five minutes to thicken.
   
   I always pair this with my homemade grilled cheese! YUM!