A smooth, comforting tomato cream soup built from a properly sweated aromatic base and a gentle simmer with vegetable broth. Blended until silky, then finished with cream if you want to round out the acidity. Simple, warm, and deeply tomato-forward.
Chop the white onion, carrot, garlic, and tomatoes into medium pieces. There is no need to peel the tomatoes: the blender handles that, and the skins bring real flavor.
Heat the butter with the olive oil and cook the white onion and carrot for
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Add the garlic and tomato paste; cook for 1 minute, stirring, until the paste turns darker and loses its raw edge.
Add the tomatoes, vegetable broth, salt, and pepper. Cook partly covered for 18 minutes, until the tomatoes have collapsed and the carrot is very soft.
Add the basil and blend until the soup is smooth. Return it to the pot, stir in the cream if using, and heat for 3 minutes without a hard boil. It should be silky, hot, and gently rounded in acidity.
