Heirloom Tomato Soup

This is hands down my most favorite soup. I have a few chilis in the running for the title but this is the clear winner. Not only is it the tastiest soup, it’s ridiculously easy to make. I’ve been dreaming about this for WEEKS and just last week I went into Whole Foods with the short list of the ingredients and wouldn’t you know, they didn’t have heirloom tomatoes! Isn’t this the height of tomato season?! Isn’t Whole Foods supposed to have all the things?! Today I made sure to hit up a local farmer’s market first thing to grab these babies. Both my kids and I love this soup. It tastes so creamy but not a hint of dairy is added. The kids will be having this for dinner tonight with quesadillas and I’ll be having mine with avocado toast. I might also need a glass of white wine to go with this…

Ingredients:

1 medium yellow onion, medium diced

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided

1 bunch fresh basil

5 sprigs of fresh thyme

5 sprigs of fresh marjoram

2 garlic cloves, microplaned

5 overripe heirloom tomatoes, cored and cut into large chunks

1/2 tablespoon salt

1 1/4 teaspoons balsamic vinegar

Instructions:

Wash your herbs, chop up your onion, peel your garlic and core your tomatoes.
Chop up your tomatoes into large chunks.
Take your bunch of basil, your 5 sprigs of thyme and 5 sprigs of marjoram, and tie them up tightly together with some kitchen twine.
To microplane garlic, all you need to do is get a cheese or small grater and rub the peeled garlic against it to grate it.
Heat ¼ cup olive oil, the diced onion and herb bunch in a dutch oven or soup pot over medium low heat, until the onion is soft, tender and translucent, but not browned.
Stir in the garlic and then quickly add the tomatoes and ½ tablespoon of salt.
Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for about 10-15 minutes, or until the tomatoes are broken down. Make sure to occasionally stir the tomatoes.
Once the tomatoes have broken down, remove the herb bunch.
Stir in the 1 1/4 teaspoons of balsamic vinegar and the remaining ¼ cup of olive oil.
Turn off the heat.
Puree the soup either using a hand held immersion blender or a regular blender.
Keep warm until ready to serve.