What you may not know is that my family has very strong opinions about tomato soup. Half of my kids actively loathe it, while other half will request this soup every time they come home to visit. They've never really been wishy-washy about their opinions, either. They love it or hate it, and that's it. My husband and I are on the pro-soup side of this argument, and sometimes you have to stray from the old faithful recipe just to try something new, and we're perfectly willing to do that. Just don't tell our tomato soup-loving kids, because they'll clutch their chests like they're having a heart attack.
I got a new cookbook recently. This gal lives out in Wyoming and raises her own cows, pigs and chickens, and grows a big garden. This particular recipe drew me in because I could use my bottled whole tomatoes, rather than just the juice I use in our old standby recipe. We've recently harvested the garlic, too, so that was another point in its favor. It's really good, and even better heated up for lunch the next day. So let's say you wanted to try an easy tomato soup recipe from scratch. You could try this one and be pretty happy about what you accomplish. Then, if you're like me, you could tear pieces of homemade bread toast into the soup and eat it that way. I'm not fussy, I'll use goldfish crackers instead of the toast, or biscuits would be good...or garlic toast....
Creamy Tomato Garlic Soup
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 cup chopped onion
- 4 cloves of garlic, minced
- 3 tablespoons flour
- 1 Tablespoon sugar
- 2 tablespoons dried basil
- 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 4 cups crushed or diced tomatoes, undrained
- 1 cup heavy cream
- Shredded Parmesan cheese (optional– for garnish)
Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat, then add the onion and garlic and saute until tender. Stir in the flour, sugar, salt, pepper, and basil, and stir until the flour just starts to brown...a couple of minutes. Add the chicken stock and the tomatoes with their liquid.
Using an immersion blender, puree the soup to create a creamy consistency. (If you don't have an immersion blender, you can puree the tomatoes in a regular blender or food processor before you stir them in.)
Reduce the heat to low and simmer for about 20 minutes, or until the soup begins to thicken. Add the cream and stir. Simmer for about 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Adjust seasonings if needed, then serve with a handful of shredded Parmesan cheese on top.
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