Creamy Fresh Tomato Soup

This year I decided to try my hand at growing a few things. I started with tomatoes because, well they are very basic, you water them, they grow. I figured I could do that! I also have always wanted to grow my own herbs. They are so expensive at the store and never stay fresh long once they have been picked so I also planted some basil, chives and parsley. The parsley totally bombed, it got about an inch high and stayed that way all summer long. The chives are doing well, I toss them in little things here and there. But what I am really excited about is the basil I grew. I love basil, in just about everything. I actually wish Scentsy would make a basil scented wax, I would use it everyday! Anyhow, I got all my plants going and then all of a sudden I had tomatoes everywhere. Every bowl in my kitchen was spilling over and I was eating them as quickly as I could. I had to come up with a way to use these tomatoes! So here it is: Creamy Fresh Tomato Soup. I made a huge batch and froze it in 1 pint mason jars (the perfect serving for the hubby and I). In the future I think I may just use freezer bags, but the mason jars stack nicely in the freezer and I just pull one out in the morning, put it in the fridge and by dinner I have soup ready to heat up. It is truly delicious and so satisfying. Enjoy!
Creamy Fresh Tomato Soup

Ingredients
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 cups chopped red onions (about 2 onions)
2 carrots, peeled and finely chopped
1 tablespoon minced garlic (3 cloves)
8 cups vine-ripened tomatoes, chopped (about 8 large)
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves, plus extra for garnish, if desired
4 cups chicken stock
1 tablespoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1 3/4 cup half and half OR 1 cup heavy cream
Croutons, crusty bread, (or a grilled cheese sandwich) for garnish

Directions
Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot over medium-low heat. Add the onions and carrots and saute for about 10 minutes, until very tender but not brown. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the tomatoes, sugar, tomato paste, basil, chicken stock, salt, and pepper and stir well. Bring the soup to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer, uncovered, for 30 to 40 minutes, until the tomatoes are very tender.
Add the cream to the soup. Process it through a food mill into a bowl, or in a blender or food processor in batches. If you use a food mill, discarding only the dry pulp that's left. Reheat the soup over low heat just until hot and serve with julienned basil leaves and/or croutons. Keeps in the freezer for up to 6 months, maybe longer, but you will probably eat it all too fast to ever know! Enjoy!!!!

Pasta al Forno

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1 pound penne rigate (with lines)

softened butter, for baking dish

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 small onion, finely chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 can (15 ounces) crushed tomatoes

1/2 cup heavy cream

2 pinches cinnamon

6 slices bacon, chopped and extra crispy

1/4 to 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese

Put a pot of water over high heat to boil. when water boils add salt and pasta. Cook pasta to al dente (soft on the outside with a little crunch on the inside), about 7 minutes. Once pasta water comes to a boil preheat oven to 500 degrees F.

Butter a medium size baking dish or casserole. Ad olive oil to a medium skillet over medium heat. cook onions and garlic in olive oil 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in tomatoes and bring to a bubble. Add cream and season sauce with cinnamon, salt and pepper. Add chopped bacon to sauce and stir with cooked pasta to combine. Adjust seasonings and transfer pasta to baking dish. cover pasta with cheese and place in oven. Bake until top is lightly brown and pasta is bubbling, about 10 minutes. Serve hot from the oven.

*** This pasta was so very good. The recipe makes enough for a 9x13 pan which fed my family for a week! Just go easy on the cinnamon, the flavor is really enhanced when you bake it.