Cream of Vine Ripened Tomato Soup

I feel fortunate for having good neighbors, and some other  generous friends who shared their produce bounty  with us this year, gifts from their gardens are such a treat! Is there anything like a homegrown tomato fresh from the vine?  So tasty! When the tomato harvest begins to get ahead of what  you can eat fresh, you might like to try this soup. 
It's one I adapted from Ina Garten, The Barefoot Contessa  and it's very good!
I adjusted just a few things from the original recipe  and switched out the garnishes.    Ina suggested croutons, and some julienned fresh basil leaves. I really like to try different garnishes on soups, particularly creamy or pureed soups = those with little or no texture...    I can't help it, I get bored eating spoonful after spoonful  of the same thing and feel the need to break the monotony,  no matter how good the soup tastes garnishes are a treat!




I have served it with baby arugula leaves and crisp crumbled  bacon (I love the way the arugula adds a nice contrast to  the creamy soup.)

 I've also served this soup with thin, grilled/toasted slices from a baguette,  smeared with Spinach-Arugula-Basil Pesto:
  

For the pesto I just whirred the leaves in a small  food processor with some good olive oil, a small garlic clove  and added coarse salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. 
The proportions are up to you; I used mostly spinach,  with just a little arugula, and a couple of leaves of fresh basil.  You could add grated Parmesan, pine nuts, walnuts or  almonds to the pesto ~ but I just kept it simple.  It was very good and clean tasting! :)

If you would like a printable copy of my version of Ina's recipe, you'll find it on my recipe blog. Click Here.

Thanks for stopping by today!