This Is the Single Best Tomato Soup You Will Ever Eat

It’s cold. It’s spiked with crabmeat. And it’s spectacular.

The words “tomato soup” usually conjure images of gloppy condensed tomato goo slopping out from a can. Sure, serve the shelf-stable stuff with grilled cheese and you have nostalgia-invoking comfort food meal. Admit, though, that the tinny-tasting soup is a minor role supporting the true star: the gooey cheese.

Stop eating crummy canned tomato soup. It’s a crime to tomatoes—especially fresh tomatoes, which you can score right now in abundance. Take a few, toss them in a blender with garlic, basil, vinegar, and olive oil. Buzz everything up, strain out the seeds, and then put it in the fridge. Once it’s chilled, pop a simple crab salad on top and you’ve just discovered that tomato soup can taste, well, pretty damn good.

Should you choose to skip the soup, the crab salad is delicious on it’s own.

But, really, don’t skip the soup.

Ingredients

• 5 medium heirloom tomatoes
• 1 garlic clove
• 3 large basil leaves
• 1 Tablespoon red wine or sherry vinegar
• Sea salt, to taste
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1 shallot, chopped
• 1/2 lemon, juiced
• 1 poind fresh crabmeat
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
• 10 fresh basil leaves, chopped

Preparation

1. In a blender or food processor, puree the tomatoes, garlic, basil, and salt, to taste, until smooth.
2. Slowly drizzle in half the olive oil and continue to process until all the oil is incorporated.
3. Strain the mixture into a bowl through a fine mesh sieve.
4. Season with salt, if needed, and refrigerate until cold.
5. In a medium bowl, combine the shallot and lemon juice.
6. Slowly drizzle in the remaining olive oil, whisking, until well combined.
7. Add the crab, tomatoes, and basil, and mix everything together with your hands.
8. Season with salt.
9. To serve, pour the soup into bowls and top with crab salad.

Makes 4 servings.