Creamy Fire Roasted Tomato Basil Soup

I'm all about comfort food. And, in the winter I love eating soup. You know, the traditional tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwich and chicken noodle soup... But, I wanted something different. I was perusing the Betty Crocker website and came across this recipe. It reminded me of a tomato basil soup I had in Hasta La Pasta down in Texas. So, I gave it a shot. I used my new knife to chop the onion and my new dutch oven to cook the soup. It really makes a difference to use high quality kitchen utensils and cutlery... FYI, I don't like hot and spicy, so I omitted the red pepper flakes. I also doubled the recipe so that I'd have leftovers.

Well, here it goes:

1 tbsp butter
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 cans fire roasted diced tomatoes, 14.5 oz can, undrained
1 3/4 cup chicken broth
2 tbsp chopped fresh basil
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 cup whipping cream

In 3 quart saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook 2 to 3 minutes, stirring constantly, until tender. Stir in tomatoes, broth, 1 tbsp of the basil, the sugar and red pepper flakes. Heat to boiling. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from heat; pour mixture into a large heat proof bowl; cool slightly for 15 minutes. Place half the mixture into a blender. Cover, blend until pureed. Return to saucepan; repeat with remaining mixture. Heat over medium heat until hot. Remove from heat. Stir in cream and remaining 1 tbsp of basil.