I don’t remember where I got this recipe, so here it is:

Ingredients

• 4 cups fresh tomatoes, cored, peeled, and chopped, or 4 cups canned whole tomatoes, crushed
• 4 cups tomato juice
• 14 basil leaves, washed fresh
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 lb sweet unsalted butter
• salt
• 1/4 tsp cracked black pepper
• lemon juice (optional)

Preparation

• Combine tomatoes and juice in saucepan.
• Simmer 30 minutes.
• Puree, along with the basil leaves, in small batches, in blender, food processor (or better yet, one of those handy hand-held food blenders, right in the cooking pan).
• Return to saucepan and add cream and butter, while stirring over low heat.
• Garnish with basil leaves and serve with your favorite bread.

Original thread and explanation of why I’m doing this here

This was both of my kids favorite food when we lived in Houston. When we moved to Seattle I searched long and hard to find an imitation. Turns out it’s just a megaton of tomatoes, butter, cream, and basil.