Creamy Tomato Soup

I don't know if it's just the fall & winter time, or if I just love soup...it's such a cozy meal that I don't care why. Last year, Aaron and I started making our own soups at home. Which also meant that we could freeze portions of them for meals later on (<--LOVE doing that!). After I had my wisdom teeth pulled, this was my requested meal. Mmmmm. However, Aaron is not a fan of chopping onions...

This post is all about our delicious and creamy tomato soup. Unfortunately these photos are from the last time we made it and I did not get an ingredients picture. It's a pretty simple recipe though!

Serves 6

~ Ingredients ~

4 tbsp butter

1 onion, chopped

2 1/2 lbs. ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped

1 bay leaf

1 clove garlic (minced)

2 tsp basil (or 4 fresh sprigs)

2 tsp parsley (or 4 fresh sprigs)

7 1/2 cups chicken or vegetable stock

1 small can of tomato paste (the itty bitty ones...like 4 oz I think)

3/4 cup Greek yogurt (3/4 cup heavy cream works too)

salt and pepper to taste

Croutons (grab a bag from the store. It's easier)

~ Directions ~ 

• To prep tomatoes - Bring a pot of water to a boil. Fill a bowl with cold or ice water. Get rid of the green stuff on the tomatoes and put in boiling water for about 30 seconds. Pull them out (not with your hands...duh) and put them in the cold water. This is called blanching. Makes the skin much easier to remove. Dice them up and remove the seeds. 

• Melt the butter in a large stock pan. Add the onion and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally for about 5 minutes or until soft.

• Add the tomatoes, bay leaf, garlic, basil, parsley, season with salt and pepper, and simmer for about 15 minutes. Make sure to stir occasionally. (If bored from stirring, pull up a stool and grab a book, craft project, or dance for your dogs. I do all of those while cooking because I can't focus on one thing for long periods of time.)

• Stir the mixture until the tomatoes have cooked down and most of the liquid has evaporated. If you don't want to wait for most of it to evaporate, just put in less stock.

• Increase the heat to medium and add the stock. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for about 25 minutes.

• Meanwhile, open the bag of croutons. Eat half the bag (you won't need the whole thing for soup). You could make your own but...

• Remove the soup from the heat and let it cool just a bit. If you used fresh herbs, this is where you would take them out. Make sure that no matter what, you find the bay leaf and throw it out.

• Add the tomato paste and stir.

• Now, this CAN be the messy part. You can transfer the soup to a blender (about 1/3 at a time, you can use a food processor, OR you can you an emulsion blender. I use the third option. We tried the stand blender once. Big mistake. It looked like Freddy Kruger had been in our kitchen. 

• Blend until all the chunks are gone. FYI, the amount of stock you choose to put in will determine how think your soup is.

• Return the soup to the pan and reheat. Stir in the yogurt and heat for a few more minutes until the soup is hot again. Taste it and add whatever seasoning you'd like if need be.

• Ladle into bowls and top with croutons, cheese, chips, goldfish crackers, etc.

This stuff is pretty much amazing. We love love love it by itself OR with grilled cheese.

Please continue for details on how to freeze batches.

~ Ingredients for 3 freezer batches ~

12 tbsp butter

3 onion, chopped

7 lbs. ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped

3 bay leaf

3 clove garlic (minced)

2 tbsp basil (or 12 fresh sprigs)

2 tbsp parsley (or 12 fresh sprigs)

You'll notice that this isn't a full list of the original ingredients list. That's because you only cook far enough to get the tomatoes, onions, etc reduced. 

• Once this happens, pull out the fresh herbs (if used) and bay leafs. 
• Remove from heat and let cool (either on the stove or in the fridge with a lid on).
• Once it is cool enough, ladle 3-4 portions into freezer bags. I use the gallon size ones. But you might get away with the quart size.
• I usually lay them on a cookie sheet so that they will freeze flat.
• Put them in the freezer.

When you are ready for more tomato soup, thaw out a bag, place the mixture in a large pot over medium heat and continue the directions from where we left off. If you did 4 portions, you won't need as much stock as the recipe calls for.

The frozen stuff should stay good for at least a few months (if you use freezer bags).

Enjoy!!