Tomato Basil Soup

One more soup :)... i really love this one, its very quick to make and quite hearty... usually have just the soup with some bread and its a full meal for me...

10-15 red juicy big tomatoes pureed
10-16 leaves of fresh basil
Olive oil (extra virgin, cold pressed olive oil gives the best flavour)
Butter 1 inch cube
Salt to taste
1 carrot chopped up into very small cubes
1 small bunch of spinach roughly chopped
some fresh cream (optional)
Braggs Seasoning (optional) 2 -4 squirts depending on taste

Heat the olive oil and butter in a pan. Add salt and Braggs.
Add the basil leaves and let them crackle a bit.
Add the tomato puree and cook until done, you will see a bit of oil formation and the mixture will be bubbling away quite merrily. You may need to add water or vegetable stock depending on the consistency you want, i usually dont and leave it to be quite thick and hearty.
Just before serving add the carrots and boil, the carrots should not get cooked completely. They should remain slightly crunchy. Add spinach at the very end, it gets cooked in less than 1 minute.



Serve immediately!! It goes brilliantly with toasted multi grain or wheat bread.
A small dollop of fresh cream gives it a really rich look. If you are doing garlic, just 1 small clove of garlic chopped finely can also be added right at the start to the olive oil and butter and allowed to brown a bit before adding the basil leaves... it gives an entirely different, subtle flavour to the soup.