Yesterday morning was the coldest day of the year for us. After months of "winter" with temps in the 50′s the sudden bitter cold is hard to get used to. This is our "in like a lion" week and if this is the worst of winter there’s very little complaining to do. There are a lot of things coming up in the garden, hopefully the arctic blast won’t harm them too much.

On Mondays I have yoga so I eat a very early dinner. I try to make something light that will keep well until Jason gets home. Yesterday it was cheese biscuits and tomato soup. I’ve tried several tomato soup recipes but this is the first one I thought was really a keeper.

Tomato Soup

1 small sweet onion, finely chopped
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup flour
2 large cans fire-roasted crushed tomatoes
basil
salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil and butter over low in a Dutch oven until melted. Sweat the onions until translucent. Add the flour and cook for 1 minute then add the tomatoes rinsing the cans into the pot with about 1/2 cup of water in each. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes.  Add fresh basil right at the end of the cooking time or dried basil at the beginning of the simmer time.