Hearty Garden Fresh Homemade Tomato Soup Or Sauce

1. 1

   Saute first 5 ingredients in olive oil until soft in an 8-10 quart pot.

2. 2

   Make a bundle of the sage, thyme and bay leaves by wrapping them with string in cheesecloth (you can tie the string to a pot handle to make it easier to remove later).

3. 3

   Add remaining ingredients, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 2 hours. Let cool.

4. 4

   Puree through a food mill fitted with a medium blade. The use of a medium blade gives you a soup with plenty of pulp (you can adjust blade size if you like). Reheat and adjust seasonings as needed. Add a splash of heavy cream before serving if you want cream of tomato soup.

5. 5

   If you don't have a food mill you can also make this a semi-chunky soup, but I'd recommend a smaller dice for onions, carrots, celery and red peppers.

6. 6

   To make a sauce, return to pot after pureeing and let it continue to simmer over low heat until it reaches the desired consistency.

No additional tips available.