Heat the oil and butter in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add onion and garlic.
And cook until soft but not browned, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in flour and cook for 1 minute.
Add tomatoes, vegetable broth, sugar, bay leaves, basil, salt and pepper. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes, skimming off and discarding any foam from the surface. Remove bay leaves.
Puree in batches using blender or food processor until smooth and return to pot to keep warm. Add additional sugar or salt before serving, if desired.
Hack: Put serving-sized leftover portions in a freezer bag or container and store them in the freezer for future use.
Hack: If you have leftover tomatoes that are becoming over-ripe, simply puree them in the blender and freeze the fresh puree in sealed freezer bags or containers to use in recipes at a later date. No need to core, peel or seed ‘em...just toss ‘em right in. Run the puree through a mesh colander if you want to remove the seeds.