Creamy Rustic Tomato Soup
Nothing beats comfort food on a cold and stormy day. Whether it’s a snowstorm or rainstorm comfort foods are always welcome. And what’s the best comfort food on a wet and windy day? Grilled Cheese sandwiches dipped in a bowl of steaming creamy tomato soup of course!
Dipping a crunchy sandwich dripping with gooey cheese into a hot bowl of creamy tomato soup brings back awesome childhood memories sitting in my grandmother’s kitchen on a winter afternoon. But for some reason my grandmother always served Campbell’s tomato soup to which she’d heat with milk instead of water. I guess Filipino grandmas didn’t do homemade tomato soup, but her Arroz Caldo, chicken and rice soup, was always awesome.
I digress, back to tomato soup. As an adult I still love creamy tomato soup. When I was a newlywed grilled cheese and canned tomato soup was pretty much all I could make, having had lots of practice during my school days. Then I suppose you could say my tastes got a bit more sophisticated and I actually learned how to cook. Homemade tomato soup was something I finally figured out how to make. It’s actually pretty easy, specially these days when there are immersion blenders and canned fire roasted tomatoes.
These days my love of creamy tomato soup has been passed down to my grandkids. So I make a big pot of my Creamy Rustic Tomato Soup on stormy days. Of course there’s grilled cheese for dunking!
Making this soup is very easy, it just takes a bit of time. I use Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes because I just love the Rustic flavors roasted tomatoes have. To make the soup I sauté chopped onions and garlic, pour in the diced tomatoes, add spices and stock, then simmer for at least an hour. I add lots of heavy cream, use my immersion blender to purée, then serve.
Ok, so maybe you don’t have an immersion blender, why not??, you really should consider investing in one, it’s a great kitchen small appliance; anyway don’t despair, you can use your blender, a bit messy and you must be very careful, but it’s doable.
Here’s a tip, if you are using a blender, cool the soup to almost room temperature, so you don’t get burned. Pour soup in the blender so it doesn’t overflow and leave room for blending space. You may have to purée your soup in batches. Return puréed soup to pot and heat before serving. This is just one reason an immersion blender comes in handy!
So here’s my recipe!
This post contains affiliate links
Creamy Rustic Tomato Soup
Ingredients:
3 Cans Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes
1 Small onion finely diced
3 Garlic cloves finely minced
1 Tbl. Olive Oil
1 Tsp. Dried Oregano
1 Tsp. Dried Basil
1 Tsp. Onion Powder
1 Tsp. Garlic Powder
Black Pepper to taste
16 oz. Chicken Broth
2 Cups Heavy Cream
Fresh Basil or Oregano for garnish (optional)
Directions:
Heat Olive Oil in a Dutch Oven or large pot. Sauté onions until they start to turn translucent.
Add Garlic and sauté another minute or two, don’t burn it.
Add spices and mix well.
Add tomatoes and broth.
Bring to a boil.
Turn heat down to low and simmer covered for about 1 hour.
Remove from heat.
Stir in cream. Mix until well incorporated.
Purée carefully with a hand held immersion blender (if you don’t have one see tip above for using blender)
Blend until the soup is smooth and not lumpy.
If it’s too thick stir in more chicken broth until you get the consistency you want. You may need to reheat if it gets too cold when you add broth.
Ladle into bowls and garnish with fresh basil leaf or oregano sprig if desired.
Serve hot.
