Tomato Soup

Growing up, I didn't care for canned tomato soup. It tasted tinny, and the ultra-smooth, thick texture was too similar to ketchup.

When I became vegetarian, I had to give tomato soup another try. It was oftentimes one of my only choices at restaurants. (But I learned you need to be very careful with soup. Even vegetarian-sounding soup like broccoli cheddar or minestrone can be made with chicken stock.)

Luckily, restaurant quality tomato soup (usually) tastes much better than the canned variety. And homemade tomato soup tastes even better! Especially when you can pick the tomatoes and basil from your very own garden.

adapted from Food Network Favorites

Tomato Soup

serves 4

Ingredients:

• 2 14 oz cans diced tomatoes (or 1 14 oz can + 3 medium tomatoes, diced)
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 4 Tbs olive oil, divided
• 1 stalk celery, diced
• 1 small carrot, diced
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 c vegetable broth
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 Tbs butter (optional)
• 1/4 c chopped fresh basil
• 1/4 c plain, unsweetened almond milk (or other milk/cream - optional)
• grated parmesan cheese, to taste (optional)

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 450F.
• Strain tomatoes over a bowl, reserving the juices.

• Spread tomatoes on a baking sheet, and season with salt & pepper.
• Drizzle with 2 Tbs olive oil and roast until caramelized, about 15 minutes.

• Meanwhile, heat the remaining 2 Tbs olive oil in a medium/large saucepan over medium heat.
• Add the celery, carrot, onion, and garlic and cook until softened, about 10 minutes.

• Add the roasted tomatoes, reserved tomato juice, bay leaf, and butter (if using).
• Simmer until vegetables are very tender, 15-20 minutes.
• Add basil and almond milk (if using) and remove bay leaf.

• Puree with an immersion blender* until desired consistency. (I prefer mine with a little texture.)

• If desired, sprinkle with grated parmesan cheese. Also good served with an English muffin topped with butter and parmesan.

I like that this soup has some hidden veggies in it. I also like that it's much lighter than the original version, but still tastes 'creamy' because it is pureed. Although the butter, milk, and parmesan are all listed as optional, the recipe may need some tweaking if you'd like to omit all three. The dairy tends to balance out the acidity of the tomatoes, but some non-dairy milk or a couple pinches of sugar may work for a vegan version.

*If you do not have an immersion blender you can puree in a blender, transferring the soup in batches. Be sure to only fill the blender half way, and keep the lid vented (you can cover it with a kitchen towel.) Otherwise, the hot liquid could blow the lid off and splash onto you.