Creamy Tomato Soup

 One of the first things I want to do when the weather turns cold is cook soups, stews, and chilis.     There’s something so comforting about a hot liquid, flavorful goodness when its grey and dismal outside.  Plus, there are only three things that are guaranteed to warm me up when I get cold:

Soups,

Pajamas and thick socks, and

a hot bath.

I have a few tried and true recipes that I’ve cooked many times over the years, but I have been determined this season to find more keeper recipes.

My quest started with tomato soup.  My husband, Mark, loves tomatoes whether they’re raw or cooked, and in the past, he’s bought canned soup from the grocery store.  I figured I could make a much tastier homemade soup.  I’ve been trying recipes for quite a long time, trying to find the tomato soup concoction that I could call my keeper recipe.

So far this one is it.  Now I won’t say that I’ll never find another recipe that surpasses this one, but Mark gave this soup a score of 8.5 out of 10, so that’ll be hard to beat.

I often double or triple the recipe.  The soup is especially tasty if you let it sit a day or two in the fridge before eating it for the first time — the flavors marry beautifully — but it’s still mighty tasty right after cooking it, too.    Also, it’s easy to freeze individual servings in the freezer, something I do almost always.  It’s a handy thing to have on hand when you’re chilled to the bone and just don’t feel like cooking.

CREAMY TOMATO SOUP

Ingredients:

2 stalks of celery, roughly chopped

1 small onion, roughly chopped

2 cloves fresh garlic or 1 teaspoons ready-to-use minced garlic.  (I use the latter and always keep a small jar of ready-to-use garlic in my refrigerator.  I usually buy the Spice World brand, and it’s available on Amazon.)

1/2 cup butter, cubed and divided

2 (28 oz) cans crushed tomatoes

1 can chicken broth

1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, chopped OR 2 tablespoons ready-to-use chopped basil, divided

1 (8-oz) package low-fat cream cheese, softened

3 tablespoons organic agave nectar (If you can’t find it in your local grocery store, you can buy it affordably on Amazon.)

salt and pepper

Preparation:

1.  In a food processor, add celery, onion and garlic.  Pulse until puréed.

2.  Melt half of the butter to the butter in a large saucepan or dutch oven.  (If you are doubling or tripling the recipe, you’ll definitely want to use a dutch oven or a small soup pot.)

3.  After the butter melts, pour the puréed mixture from the food processor into a large saucepan or dutch oven.   Do not rinse the food processor; depending on what kitchen equipment you own, you may not be done with it yet!

4.  Saute the vegetable garlic mixture over medium heat, about 10 minutes or until fragrant.

5.  Add the tomatoes, broth and half of the basil.    Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally as it begins to boil.

6.  Once the mixture boils, reduce the heat to a low simmer and simmer for at least 15-30 minutes.

7.  Cut cream cheese into 1/2″ cubes or thereabouts.  Place the cream cheese into the food processor with about 1 cup of the hot soup.  Process on high until cream cheese is dissolved, about 1 minute.  (Alternatively, you could just add the cream cheese to the soup and use a hand blender to mix in the cream cheese. I own an immersion hand blender and it’s a handy tool to add to your kitchen tool collection.)

8.  Add the cream cheese and soup mixture back into your pot.

9.  Add the agave nectar, remaining basil, and the remaining butter into the hot soup.  Stir until combined.

10.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Yield:  8 cups

This recipe is a modified version of this one.  Oh, and this blog post does contain a few affiliate links.

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