No Soup for You!

This tomato soup recipe started out in Joy of Cooking and my good friend L played with it and I played with it some more. It is a great way to use up some of those garden tomatoes.

2T olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
3 lbs. fresh tomatoes (peeling and seeding optional), chopped
1 t. fresh basil, chopped
1 t. fresh oregano, chopped
3-4 c. chicken stock
1 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper
1 1/2 c. half-and-half or cream

In a big soup pot, saute onion in olive oil until tender. Add tomotoes, basil, and oregano. Bring to boil, then simmer 25 minutes. Let cool enough to process in food processor. Return to pot, add chicken stock, half-and-half, salt, and pepper. Serve with shredded parmesan and/or fresh Italian parsley, if desired.

(This soup can be frozen before adding half-and-half.)

P.S. I washed and quartered and cooked more tomatoes, and ran them through my Foley food mill, with the intention of cooking the result down to sauce. But then I realized it could be used in the above recipe, so I poured the slop into canning jars and froze it.