With all this chilly and frankly cold weather all I want to do after a long day is head home to cozy up with a large warm bowl of soup. I think most of us have memories of grilled cheese and tomato soup where the bread is white, the cheese very orange, and the soup from a can. Since changing my lifestyle I have become an awesome re-inventor. I am always taking classics that I love and re-inventing them to suite my grown up palette as well as my new health concerns. Before I would have thought that there is no way to make a velvety tomato soup without the use of butter or cream, but now I actually prefer this one. B and I agree that this recipe is extra tomato-y and all that tomato flavor translates to yum.
Instead of having a grilled cheese sandwich I tossed up a yummy salad. I typically would prep everything for a salad myself but Publix had a sale on their premium bagged salads so I went with an apple, cheese and walnut one. And if you are wondering yes you read cheese, I am not strictly a vegan but I do like to make vegan food. Outside of French pastries and cheese I was never really a dairy eater anyways :)
For the Soup:
- 28 oz can organic crushed tomatoes
- 28 oz can organic fire roasted diced tomatoes
- 1 large onion chopped
- 2 ribs celery chopped
- 1 cup carrots chopped (3-4 large)
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1/4 cup fresh basil finely chopped
- 1 Tbsp. sugar
- 1-2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
- In a large pot over medium heat warm the olive oil and saute the onion, celery and carrots until soft about 6-8 minutes. Once the vegetables are soft add the garlic to the pot and lightly salt.
- Add the tomatoes to the pot and bring to a boil. Once the mixture comes to boil, reduce heat to simmer. Use an immersion blender* to blend the soup until smooth.
- Once the soup is smooth stir in the sugar and half the chopped basil. The sugar helped to cut some of the acid from the tomatoes. Simmer the soup for 20-25 minutes to create a richer flavor.
- After the soup has simmered stir in the remaining basil and serve.
- Serves 6-8
*If you do not have an immersion blender use caution. You can add the mixture to a blender or food processor, but you will need to cool the soup first. I recommend an immersion blender because it is easy to use and clean and allows soups to have a creamy texture without having to add dairy.
I am going to go ahead and warn you...this soup is trouble. It is so good and so easy you will want to make it all the time. Just be sure you keep all the ingredients on hand ;) and yes you will need a very crusty loaf of bread for all this velvety tomato goodness.
Enjoy!
