Cream of Tomato Soup

Adapted from Deborah Madison’s Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. I tried out my new toy – the food mill on this one but next time I’ll use the blender to give the soup a little more body.

2 1/2 T butter

1 onion, chopped

pinch of ground cloves

2 T flour

2 15 oz cans of diced tomatoes

pinch of baking soda

2 1/2 cups vegetable stock

1 1/2 cups milk

salt and pepper

tomato paste – if needed

Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and cloves, cook stirring occasionally until onion is limp. Stir in the flour, then add the tomatoes, baking soda, and stock; bring to a boil. Lower the heat anad simmer, partially covered, for 20 minutes. Let cool, then puree in a blender until smooth. Return soup to pot, add the milk, and season with salt. Add some tomato paste if the flavor is not as rich as you’d like. Reheat and season with pepper before serving.