Tomato Basil Soup

I tried a recipe for Tomato Basil Soup today, and I didn't like it at all.  Way too bland and boring.  But I wanted to give it another go, so I went to Food Network.com and found a recipe that seemed simple and tasty.  So for the second time today, I made a Tomato Basil Soup recipe with some additions of my own, and I am very pleased with the result.  I added the garlic, the cayenne, and the cream, plus I did some blending the recipe didn't call for.  I also topped the recipe with cheese--such a must, I thought.  It turned out really delicious, and it's perfect for cold weather. 

Ingredients:

2 T. olive oil

1 medium onion, diced

3 cloves (1 T.) garlic, minced

4 C. vegetable or chicken stock (I used 2 chicken bouillon cubes and 4 C. water)

4 C. diced canned tomatoes (or 1 28-oz. can is probably fine too)

¼ t. cayenne pepper

Salt and pepper to taste

1 C. losely-packed, fresh basil leaves

½ C -1 C. heavy cream (I used 1C. but use less or omit entirely to lower fat content)

Freshly grated Parmesan cheese for the top (or use grated Romano or even Gruyère—any cheese really, but I like Parmesan with this recipe)

Directions:

Heat the oil in a large soup pot over medium heat.  Sauté the onion, stirring often until softened, about 10 minutes.  Add the garlic half way through.  Add about half of the stock, then pour the mixture into a blender.  Pulse the mixture a few times until onion pieces are fairly small (this step can be omitted, but my kids don’t like things too chunky, especially onions).  Return the blended mixture to the same pot, and add the remaining stock.  Now place canned tomatoes in the blender and pulse, but don’t puree (you want a little texture).  Pour all of the blended tomatoes except maybe a cup or so into the pot.  Now add the basil leaves to the blender and pulse with the cup or so of tomato, but again, do not puree.  (You will add this last cup of tomato and basil to the pot at the very end.)  To the pot of soup, add cayenne, and salt and pepper to taste.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer about 10-15 minutes.  Stir in final blender contents, and add the desired amount of cream.  Heat through.  Serve immediately topped with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.  Delicious with crusty French bread!