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  • Recipe Box
    • Appetizers >
      • Buffalo Chicken Dip
      • Cream Cheese Appetizer
      • Sweet and Salty Nuts
      • Thai Peanut Sauce
    • Beverages >
      • Blueberry Lemonade
      • Cosmopolitan
    • Breakfast >
      • Apple Pancake
      • Homemade Granola
      • Peanut Butter Cup Smoothie
      • Stick-to-your-ribs smoothie
      • Veggie Omelet
      • Yeasted Waffles
    • Main Dishes >
      • Beef Stew
      • Chicken Fajitas
      • Choley
      • Grilled Chicken
      • Low and Slow Chicken Breasts
      • Roast Turkey
      • Rub for Pulled Pork (and other meats too!)
      • Salmon Burgers
      • Simple Homemade Mac & Cheese
      • Simple Red Sauce
      • Steak and Potato Salad
    • Sides >
      • Bacon-Roasted Brussel Sprouts
      • Creamy Polenta
      • Homemade Potato Chips
      • "Magic" Salad Recipe
    • Soup >
      • Apple Cheddar Soup
      • Butternut Squash Soup
      • Chicken Noodle Soup
      • Creamy Tomato Basil Soup
      • Smokey Beef Chili
    • Sweets and Treats >
      • Almond Cake
      • Apple Crisp
      • Bruna Kakor
      • Butterscotch Pecan Sandies
      • Chocolate Fudge Brownies
      • Chocolate Mousse
      • Compost Cookies
      • New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookies
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you can cook

Creamy Tomato Basil Soup

Picture

Ingredients

1-2 tsp. olive oil
1 cup diced carrots
1 cup diced onion (from about 1 medium/small onion)
1 cup diced celery (from about 2 ribs celery)
1/4 cup fresh basil, or 4 cubes frozen (Dorot brand, available from TJoe's freezer case)
1 tsp oregano
28 oz. can of diced tomatoes, including juice
2 Tbs. tomato paste
4 cups chicken broth
1 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese, not from a can
1-1/2 cups half and half

Directions

1. Add carrots, onions and celery to oil in a large stockpot on medium-high heat. Stir and cook vegetables until the onions are slightly translucent.
2. Once the vegetables have softened, add the basil and oregano and stir for 1 minute (the mixture will become fragrant). Next add the tomatoes, tomato paste and chicken broth and simmer for 45 minutes, or until veggies are completely softened. A simmer is just below a boil.
3. At this point, the soup will have thickened (if it has not, take the lid off and simmer another 15 minutes). Use a stick blender to blenderize the soup in your stockpot. Alternatively, if you do not have a stick blender, pour the soup into a blender, but do not fill the blender more than 1/2 full each time (trust me on this, please!). You will have to do a couple of batches.
4. Once the soup is smooth, add the Parmesan and half and half and heat through. You are now ready to serve! Of course, like almost any soup, this is great made in advance and will keep for up to a week.

Makes 4 main dish or 8 appetizer servings.

Good to know

You can get frozen basil at Trader Joes; peel back two individually sealed small squares and pop them right into your soup! For a picture, see my original blog post here.