Tuscan Tomato Soup

I've been on the search for my favorite Tomato Soup recipe. I've only tried a couple, and I believe my search is still on. However, with my limited experience so far, I really like this one! Maybe I'll came back to it at the end of a long search and claim it my favorite, who knows! But for know, I'll just say, I like it! 

I got this recipe from a friend of mine from Supperclub. Thanks Cissy!

At the end of a late tomato season, I found myself with a large bucket of tomatoes and decided to make some tomato soup and freeze it. Now I have to make we use it!

This soup is fairly quick. However, the time consuming part is peeling, seeding, and dicing the fresh tomatoes. You don't want all those seeds in your soup. So after peeling the tomatoes, cut them in quarters and with your fingers, push all the seeds/juice out. Then dice them up!

After you've cooked the tomatoes and onions, and added your broth, cream and pesto, your soup will look about like this. In a few different batches, pour the soup into your blender and blend until smooth.

Your soup will then look like this! Like magic! My family likes to add orzo pasta to their tomato soup, it adds a little texture and my little girl thinks they are "little cute noodles!"

Tuscan Tomato Soup

This recipe is from Chef's Table Restaurant (a nice restaurant in Utah). The soup is best made with fresh garden tomatoes; second choice would be canned diced tomatoes. I have also used a combination of both.

3 Tbsp. olive oil

2 large onions, small dice

5 cups diced, seeded tomatoes, drained

3 cups chicken stock

1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream

1 cup basil pesto

salt & pepper

Heat oil in a large soup pot. Add onions and cook over moderately low heat until completely translucent.

Add tomatoes and allow to warm to a simmer. Add chicken stock. Bring to a simmer and allow to simmer for 15 minutes.

Add whipping cream and pesto.

Working in batches, pour the soup into a blender and blend until desired consistency.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

**To easily peel tomatoes: heat a pot of water to boiling, turn heat down a bit, and drop the tomatoes into the pot. Remove them after about 1 minute, and place them immediately into a bowl of ice water.

**I usually use the pesto from Costco. You can also make your own by placing in a food processor the following ingredients: fresh basil leaves, pine nuts, parmesan cheese, and a little olive oil.

When in a hurry to serve this the other day, I needed a fast and filling side to go with it. I was thinking Cheesy Bread, but went with ham, cheese, and spinach bread instead. It was yummy, fast, and went great with the soup!

Ham and Cheese Melts

1 slice Whole Wheat Bread

Dijon Mustard

a few leaves of Spinach

2 thin slices deli ham

2 slices provolone or mozzarella cheese 

Spread dijon on the bread, stack the spinach, then the ham, then the cheese on top and broil in the oven for about 2 minutes (max!). If you're like me, you have to keep your hand on the oven handle, or I'll walk away and forget about it!