Tomato Basil Bisque of Awesomeness

yourhomebasedmom.com

There is nothing more comforting on a rainy day than a hot bowl of tomato soup. Over the years I have become a tomato soup connoisseur, and one of my favorites is the Mimi's Cafe Tomato Basil Bisque, we rarely leave Mimi's without a pint or two. One day I stumbled across this pin for Tomato Basil Soup and couldn't wait for the next rainy day. A couple days after pinning I made this soup and it is amazing! I am not one for following direction (see my last blog about the Greek FroYo) and this recipe is no exception, this time it actually came out really well without following it word for word. The recipe calls for 3 cans of Italian diced tomatoes, I like my soup to be smooth with minimal chunks so I pureed two cans of the tomatoes and one cup of carrot juice instead of adding the diced carrots the recipe calls for. I did however finely dice the onions and celery and sauteed them in a small sauce pan before adding them to the crock pot. The last can of tomatoes I did not puree so the soup did have some chunks. I cooked all ingredients in the crock pot including the roux and the half and half (I used fat tree half and half.) Roux may sound intimidating but is actually pretty easy to make so don't let that discourage you from trying this recipe. I also omitted the parmesan cheese to save a few calories. The serving sizes were heaping cups (probably in between a cup and a cup and a half) and came out to 160 calories per serving and price wise about a $1 per serving for 12 serving (it makes a lot!). I served it with grilled cheese sandwiches made with sheepherder bread and cheddar cheese. This soup was a huge hit with the kids and was filling enough for the hubs. This recipe would be great for a meatless monday meal, a rainy day or just because!
Till next blog!
T.Sadd

P.S. You don't have to wait for a rainy day or even a cold day, in the summer serve it chilled, gazpacho style!