Homemade Creamy Tomato Soup

Hello. What's new with you?

I am extremely behind on getting some blogging done. I could lay the blame at the feet of a whole host of incidents and reasons, but in reality, I am just behind. Maybe I've been on more of a cooking roll lately than an actual writing roll. Who knows what my role actually is?

I need to apologize to Amy from Fearless Homemaker, as I informed her that I was going to be making her amazing looking, delicious sounding, drool inducing tomato soup several weeks ago. I then proceeded to tell her that I had tried said recipe, and that I had loved it and would be writing about it soon. And there... my friendliness seemed to cut short, as I left poor Amy probably wondering if her soup was really any good.

It was delicious.

I am simply behind.

Actually, this soup was beyond delicious. It was way above expectations (which were high enough already), and left me in a sort of soup stupor. Especially, especially, when you serve this soup with some grilled cheese. This is by far the best soup for a soup/grilled cheese sandwich combo that I have ever come across. I even made my own bread just to make more grilled cheese to go along with. I kid you not!

And so, at least, here is Amy's delayed Creamy Tomato Soup, which I heartily recommend and suggest for all those that love tomato soup, and for those that love grilled cheese.

Enjoy.


Homemade Creamy Tomato Soup

Butter - 3 tbsps
Bacon - 2-4 slices, finely chopped
Onion - 1, diced
Carrot - 1 large, diced
Celery - 1 stalk, diced
Garlic - 5 cloves, minced
Flour - 4 tbsps
Chicken Stock (Low/no sodium) - 4 1/2 cups
Crushed Tomatoes - 1 (28oz) can
Tomato Paste - 1 tbsp
Crushed Red Peppers - 1/4 tsp
Thyme  - 5 fresh sprigs (or in my poor man's version, about 2-4 tsps)
Bay Leaves - 2
Salt and Pepper - a healthy pinch of each

In a large frying pan, melt the butter over medium high heat. Add the bacon and cook until crisp and browned, about 3-5 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and place on some paper towel. Press out the oil, then set aside.

Lower heat to medium, and add the onion, carrot, celery and garlic. Saute, covered, until soft (about 8 minutes). Stir in the flour and cook for an additional 5 minutes. Add the broth and crushed tomatoes.

Add the tomato paste, crushed red pepper flakes, thyme, bay leaves, and the reserved (now chopped) bacon. Lower heat to low and simmer, covered, for about 20 minutes. Keep track of the bay leaves and thyme, or else they become easily lost in the soup.

Remove the bay leave and thyme stems (if using) from the soup. With an immersion blender, or by transferring small batches to a blender or food processor, puree the soup until smooth. Add the salt and pepper, reheat the soup to a medium temperature, and serve....with hot grilled cheese.


Love it!