Creamless Creamy Tomato Soup*

Ingredients:

4 TBS extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
Red pepper flakes, to taste
1 bay leaf
2-28 oz. cans whole tomatoes, packed in juice
1 TBS brown sugar
3 slices good quality sandwich bread, torn into 1-inch pieces
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 TBS brandy, optional
?Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Heat 2 tablespoons oil in Dutch oven over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add onion, garlic, red pepper flakes (if using), and bay leaf. Cook, stirring frequently, until onion is translucent, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in tomatoes and their juice. Using potato masher, mash until no pieces bigger than 2 inches remain. Stir in sugar and bread; bring soup to boil. Reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, until bread is completely saturated and starts to break down, about 5 minutes. Remove bay leaf and discard.

Transfer half of soup to blender. Add 1 tablespoon oil and process until soup is smooth and creamy, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to large bowl and repeat with remaining soup and oil. Rinse out Dutch oven and return soup to pot. Stir in chicken broth and optional brandy. Return soup to boil and season to taste with salt and pepper. 8 servings.

*Rather than add the whole tomatoes, we chop them, and eliminate the potato masher step. Since we have a stick blender that is up for the task, we process all of the soup directly in the pot rather than in a blender.