Tomato Soup

There is nothing more comforting than tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches on a cold winter day.  I'm not sure why I never made my own tomato soup before - my husband loves tomatoes.  We both really enjoyed this soup - I enjoyed it more than I thought I would.  I don't think I would like it as much on its own - it's more of a dip for my sandwich than anything else.   This is a cream-less version of tomato soup - which is a great way to cut calories - but I think I would prefer it with the extra richness that the cream provides.  

Ingredients

• 4 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
• 1 medium onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• pinch of hot red pepper flakes (optional)
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 (28 oz) cans whole tomatoes
• 1 tbsp. brown sugar
• 3 large slices good quality sandwich bread, cubed  
• 2 cups low sodium chicken broth

 Directions

1. Prep your sandwich bread by removing the crusts and cube into bite sized pieces.

2. Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat then add onion, garlic, red pepper flakes and bay leaf. 

3. Cook while stirring frequently, until onion is translucent, about 3 to 5 minutes.

4. Stir in the tomatoes and their juice, brown sugar and bread; bring soup to boil. Reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally with a potato masher, until bread is completely saturated and starts to break down. Remove and discard bay leaf. 

5. Transfer the soup to blender or use a immersion blender in the pot and process until soup is smooth and creamy. 

6. Return the soup into the dutch oven (if you transferred it to a blender) and stir in the chicken broth. Bring the soup to boil and season to taste with salt and pepper. Sprinkle each portion with pepper and drizzle with a garnish of olive oil.

Source: Cooks Illustrated 

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