Tomato Soup with a kick

Its kinda chilly this week, a good time for some tomato soup. I have done this recipe a few times last year around sept and its pretty darn good stuff if you ask me.

1/4 cup olive oil
2 cups chopped onions
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 rib celery, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
4 pounds very ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup orange juice
2 cups packed fresh basil leaves, rinsed and patted dry, usually in veggie section of grocery store if you dont have your own fresh basil.
Salt and freshly ground black or white pepper

In a medium nonreactive saucepan, heat 1/4 cup of the olive oil over medium heat. Add the chopped onions, 2/3 of the minced garlic, the chopped celery and chopped carrot and saute until tender, 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the crushed red pepper and tomatoes and continue to cook, covered, until the tomatoes give up their liquid and begin to fall apart, about 15 minutes. Add the water and orange juice and continue to cook, covered, until the tomatoes have completely broken up, about 15 minutes longer. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

While the soup is cooking, combine the basil leaves, remaining 2 cloves of garlic, and remaining 1/2 cup of olive oil in a blender and process until very smooth. Season with salt and pepper, to taste and set aside, refrigerated and covered with plastic wrap, until ready to use.

Remove the soup from the heat and puree, in batches, in a blender. The soup may be served either hot or cold – if you plan on serving it hot, return the pureed soup to a clean saucepan and keep warm until ready to serve. If you plan on serving it cold, pour the soup into a heatproof bowl and let come to room temperature, then chill in the refrigerator at least 2 hours and up to 2 days before serving. (Remember to taste the soup and re-season if serving it cold.)

When ready to serve the soup, pour into bowls and drizzle the basil-garlic puree in the center or swirls. You can go with just he soup but I recommend the basil sauce cause it gives an extra boost in flavour that is awsome and if you want make the sauce early int he morning to erase the confusion of making everything all together and in a hurry.

I will also post one of my favourite quesadilla recipes which I created after eating at Apple bee's in buffalo once and loved thier quesadilla's and I must say i think I came pretty darn close to matching it. It also calls for some tomatoes..