Deliciously Easy Tomato Soup

Remember when you were little and it was a bit cold outside and someone made you a grilled cheese sandwich with tomato soup? Remember how the bread was a little bit greasy and the cheese was perfectly stretchy? Remember dipping the gooey sandwich into a warm bowl of what basically amounted to marinara sauce? Me too. You've most likely already mastered a good grilled cheese, but have you found that perfect tomato soup to go with it? The one thats slightly textured, creamy and full of flavor? Look no further.

This is all you need to make my favorite tomato soup (plus a little salt and pepper and a pat of butter). Start by chopping the onions, celery and carrots. Get them cooking over medium heat in a soup pot with a little olive oil. Toss in your chopped garlic when the veggies start to get tender and translucent.

Pour in a can of good tomatoes. This is the most obvious flavor of the soup, so splurge with the extra dollar or two and go for the san marzano style tomatoes. Turn the heat down to simmer the soup.

Add a heaping handful of torn up basil, followed by a bit of salt and pepper to taste (start with less, you can always add more). Add about 1/2 C chicken (or vegetable) broth. Allow the soup to simmer about 10-15 minutes. Then, get out your hand emulsion blender.

Blend the soup (careful - it can splash!) until you reach your desired consistency. It should look somewhat like this after you've added in the cream and butter.

Serve immediately with your favorite grilled cheese, panini or crusty bread. This soup actually doubles as a marinara sauce if you leave out the broth, add in some parmesan cheese and cook it down a bit longer.

Deliciously Easy Tomato Soup

1 small to medium yellow onion, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
3 celery stalks, chopped
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
1 24oz can San Marzano whole, peeled tomatoes
1/2 C chicken broth
1/4 C heavy whipping cream
1 T unsalted butter
salt and pepper to taste

Heat a soup pot or dutch oven over medium heat with 1 T olive oil. Add the first three veggies into the pot and cook until they become slightly brown and translucent. Add the garlic, cook for one minute more then add the tomatoes and turn down the heat. Toss in the torn up basil, salt and pepper and broth and simmer for 10-15 minutes. Blend the soup using a hand blender or by scooping it into a regular blender in batches. Finally, add the whipping cream and butter. Taste the soup and adjust the salt level if necessary. You can certainly double this recipe if you need to serve more than 4.

Enjoy!