Creamless Creamy Tomato Soup

Cook's Illustrated Tomato Soup

Wow!  First off, I apologize for the huge delay in posts.  I'm so sorry!  I know I've been asked by many when I would have another recipe up.  I've had some tournaments recently and with finals next week I've just been very busy and not on the blogging scene.  I promise to post again soon and especially after finals {because third trimester senior = easy classes}.

Back to the soup now.

I actually made this little number a week or two ago.  Before practice I was looking for an easy meal to whip up that would be tasty and filling, since my practice takes up around 6 hours {driving and practice}. My mom suggested I try this awesomely easy to make tomato soup, so I worked on that and paired it with a grilled cheese sandwich.  The result?  A delicious meal that just about anyone would like.  Plus, the soup is much better than that tomato soup you can get in a can ;)

Ingredients:

 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 medium onion

3 medium garlic cloves

2 (28 oz) cans whole peeled tomatoes

3 slice high-quality white sandwich bread, crusts removed, torn into one inch pieces

1 tablespoon light brown sugar 

1 bay leaf

2 cups low-sodium chicken broth

Salt and ground black pepper

1/4 cup minced fresh chives

optional: 2 tablespoons brandy

 How to:

1.  Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat until simmering.  Add the onion and cook until softened, 5 to 7 minutes.  Stir in the garlic and the red pepper flakes {if using, I recommend them!} and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.  Stir in the tomatoes with their juice.  Using a potato masher, mash the tomatoes until there are no pieces larger than 2 inches.

2.  Stir in the bread chunks, sugar, and bay leaf and bring to a boil.  Reduce to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the bread is saturated and starts to break down {about 5 minutes}

3.  Remove the bay leaf.   Working in batches, puree the soup with the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil until smooth {1 to 2 minutes}.  Return the soup to a clean pot.

4.  Stir in the chicken broth and brandy, if using.  Bring to a brief simmer and season with salt & pepper to taste.  Serve and enjoy :)

I would recommend serving this with some grilled cheese or hot dogs in crescent rolls, yum!

xo