Tomato Soup

Status: Vegan! (I think)
Mood: You want chunky soup, but not Campbell's
Labor: Moderate
Prep time: 1/2 hour

Ingredients:

• 5 or 6 small/medium-sized (or 3 or 4 larger-sized) ripe tomatoes
• 1 onion
• 1 red pepper
  
• 1 garlic clove
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
  
• 4 1/2 cups vegetable broth
  
• 1/4 cup (handful) basil leaves
• 1/4 cup tomato paste
  
• Pinch salt, sugar, pepper
• Shell/other pasta (however much you want)

Le Process

1. "Score" a cross in the top of the tomatoes, and place them in boiling water for a minute or two. Once they start to look wrinkled, take them out and place them immediately into cold water. When you remove them from the cold water, peel off the skins and set the tomatoes aside momentarily.
2. Cut up the pepper, onion, and garlic, and sauté them in a pot with the oil for about 10 minutes. While they are sautéing, cut up the tomatoes into chunks. Add this to the mixture in the pot and let cook for about 10 more minutes.
   
3. Add the tomato paste, vegetable broth, salt, sugar, and pepper. Stir and let cook for 10 minutes or so.
4. (At this point, it would be a good idea to start heating a separate pot of water. When it starts to boil, add the pasta)
   
5. Add a fistful or so of basil leaves (modest to liberal, depending on your love of basil). In about two batches, add this mixture to a food processor. You'll want to process on low for about 10 seconds, then high for about 7. The key is to produce a soup that is lightly chunky--you should see tiny bits of pepper and tomato. It can be processed until smooth, of course, but in my opinion, it's not quite as good.
6. Put the whole solution back in the pot, and, when the pasta is cooked, strain it and add it to the soup mixture. At this point, it will be done.

I love this soup. It is reliably comforting and flavorful. It's nice to make a good amount, and eat it as leftovers for daaaays.