Creamy Tomato Basil Soup

I love love love tomato soup! Especially of the creamy variety. I got some lovely tomatoes at the farmers market a few weeks ago and decided to make up a tomato soup recipe using some fresh basil from my garden. After some experimentation I came up with this recipe and I think it turned out pretty well. It would probably be even better with cream instead of milk but I just used what i had on hand.

Ingredients
4 Large tomatoes
2 Tbs olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
1/3 cup whole milk
1 Chicken bullion cube
1 Tbs onion powder
1 Handful fresh basil

Chop tomatoes in to large chunks. Arrange on a cookie sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and bake at 400 degrees for 40 minutes. Remove tomatoes from oven and transfer to a large saucepan. Use an emersion blender to blend tomatoes until smooth, then add milk, basil, onion powder (and more salt and pepper if you like) and blend again until smooth. Add chicken bullion cube and simmer over medium heat until it dissolves.

This makes a fairly small amount, maybe 2 or 3 servings but Eric doesn't like tomato soup so it was the perfect amount for me. I think it would be even better with some grilled cheese or homemade croutons, maybe next time :-)