Dec 6, 2012

Tomato Basil Soup

This time of the year, as it starts getting cooler (not too cold, we are talking about Georgia after all), I tend to gravitate towards making soups.  They are generally easy to prepare, fairly inexpensive, and there are always left overs for my husband to take to work with him the next day.  I mostly enjoy any type of soup, and love finding new vegetarian recipes to try.  Even soups that have meat can usually be altered pretty easily to be vegetarian….and it goes the other way too, as it is easy to add meat to vegetarian soups as well.

Growing up I used to love eating tomato soup with grilled cheese, but now that I am older, I don’t really each much condensed soup anymore.  Making my own tomato soup seemed like it would be fairy easy, so I wanted to give it a try.  I used some additional veggies to bulk this recipe up (so it wasn’t just tomatoes), and it turned out great.  I also got to use some basil from my herb garden!

This Tomato Basil soup is very easy to make.  It’s fast, there are minimal ingredients, and it tastes delicious.  Instead of the traditional grilled cheese, I served this with Cheddar Biscuits.  The meal was perfect.

Tomato Basil Soup
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Ingredients
1 tbsp butter
1 medium onion
1 cup chopped carrots
1 celery stalk
3 cloves garlic
30 oz fresh plum tomatoes, peeled (or you can use canned tomotoes)
32 oz vegetable broth
3 sprigs parsley
10 basil leaves
2 bay leaves
Parmesan cheese for serving (optional)
Instructions
Chop onions, carrots, celery and garlic using a **mini food processor or chopper. Melt butter in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add butter until melted, then add chopped onions, carrots, celery and garlic. Cook stirring often until soft, about 8-10 minutes. Add broth and tomatoes, stirring well.
Using a string or a rubber band, tie herbs together and drop into the soup. This will make it easy to remove later. Add salt and fresh pepper, reduce heat to low and simmer covered for 30 minutes.
Remove herbs and discard, **blend with a hand blender until smooth. (A regular blender would work, but be sure to let the soup cool before blending and fill only halfway in the blender so it doesn’t explode on you).
Ladle into bowls and top with freshly grated cheese and fresh basil.
Notes
**From the beginning I used my food processor to chop all the vegetables. I let them process for a minute to get them as chopped/pureed as possible. I skipped using the hand blender at the end because I didn’t mind that my soup wasn’t super smooth.
Makes 8 cups. About 115 calories per 2 cup serving.
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Recipe adapted from SkinnyTaste

 


Comments

  1. De'nise says:
    6 December, 2012 at 2:40 pm

    I Love it! Will be making this very soon with the cheddar biscuits! Thank you for the recipe. :D

    Reply
  2. Peggy @ Southscape Designs says:
    6 December, 2012 at 6:19 pm

    Hi Allison, this sounds delicious and I LOVE tomato basil soup. However, I am usually really bad when I make it because I use heavy whipping cream in mine and it is seriously sinful to eat it is so good. :) Your’s is much healthier. :)

    Peggy @ southscapedesigns.com

    Reply
    • Allyson says:
      6 December, 2012 at 8:20 pm

      That sounds so delicious, too, Peggy. Have you ever tried subbing the heavy cream with greek yogurt? I have been doing that lately and it’s really not much of a difference taste wise, and it feels really decadent….plus it adds protein and less fat and cals!

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Fire-Roasted Tomato and Red Pepper Soup with Grilled Cheese Croutons says:
    25 February, 2013 at 11:55 am

    [...] it would really taste all that different.  Upon first glance, my husband even thought it was the Tomato Basil soup that I frequently make…and it looks like it, too.  But the roasted tomatoes and red peppers [...]

    Reply
  2. Cheesy Vegetable Chowder – Skinny Makeover! says:
    27 February, 2013 at 11:13 am

    [...] base of this soup (carrots, celery, onion, and garlic), is the same base that starts off this Tomato Basil Soup and this Fire-Roasted and Red Pepper Soup. I highly suggest making these (or 2 of these, which I [...]

    Reply

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