Heirloom Tomato Bisque with Basil Butter

If you are looking for an appetizer soup to impress, try this one. Heirloom tomatoes have that garden fresh taste that you can’t find in any other store bought tomato. Colors range from deep purple, red, orange, green and yellow. I used a variety for this recipe with the majority being yellow for a lighter colored soup.
The basil butter is the perfect complimentary topping when you serve the soup hot. It melts into the soup, not only imparting a basil infused butter, but the solids melt into a green foam that looks so pretty against the orange soup.
If you want to serve the soup cold in the hotter summer months, simply stop blending the butter when it is still at the cream stage and you will have a nice, cold basil cream to drizzle on top.
Ingredients(Basil Butter):

5-6 large Fresh Basil Leaves(washed), stems removed
3/4 c. Heavy Whipping Cream
1/4 t. Salt

Place the basil leaves and cream in a small saucepan and place on a stove top over medium heat. As soon as the cream begins to simmer, remove the pan from the heat.

Pour the mixture into a plastic container and refrigerate until cold. When the mixture has chilled, pour it into a small food processor or chopper. Add the salt and begin pureeing *If you want a basil cream, puree for about 30 seconds and then remove the cream, cover and chill. To make butter, continue to blend for a good 2+ minutes, or until a butter has formed. Drain the remaining liquid and refrigerate the butter until ready to use.

Ingredients(Heirloom Tomato Bisque):

2 lb. Heirloom Tomatoes, washed
1/2 Bell Pepper(orange or yellow), washed and seeded.
2 T. Butter
1/2 Vidalia Onion(yellow will work too), cut into a small dice
1 Garlic Clove, minced
1 bay leaf
4 c. Chicken Stock(use vegetable broth to make this a vegetarian soup)
1 c. Heavy Cream
Kosher salt and pepper to taste *I used a grinder with black, green, and pink peppercorns and it looked so pretty ground on top of the soup!

Begin by removing the stems from the tomatoes. You want to remove the skin of the tomatoes and pepper before chopping the tomatoes. The easiest method is to blanch them. Fill a stock pot with about 4″ of water and bring to a boil. With a slotted spoon, gently drop each tomato(and 1/2 pepper) into the boiling water and let cook for about 30 seconds each.

Working quickly(you don’t want to overcook the tomatoes yet!), remove the tomatoes from the water using your slotted spoon and place on a paper towel or wash cloth to cool.

Once the tomatoes have cooled, you should be able to easily slip off the skins. After removing the skins, seed and dice the tomatoes(and pepper) and then set aside.

In a large stock pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the diced onion and cook for 3-4 minutes, or until translucent. Add the minced garlic and cook for one minute more.

Add the diced tomato, pepper, and bay leaf and let the mixture simmer for a few minutes, or until the tomato liquid is reduced by half.

Add the chicken broth to the tomato mixture and let simmer for 15-20 minutes. Turn off the heat and let the soup cool for at least 30 minutes, or until steam stops rising from it.

Remove Bay leaf. Place the soup in a blender(you may have to blend in 2 or more batches) and puree for at least 45 seconds, or until the soup is smooth.

Transfer back to the stockpot. Add the cream, salt, and pepper and bring back to a simmer. Adjust the seasonings and serve.

To Serve: Garnish with a thin slice of an heirloom tomato, a scoop of basil butter, and a dash of freshly ground pepper.