Righteous Tomato Soup

I was inspired by Pink Peppercorns tomato soup a week back and have been toying with the idea of it ever since.

Then one day I went to grocery store & the clerk accidentally rang up 2 cans of diced tomatoes that belonged to the person behind me. I didn't notice until I got home & figured this was some sort of sign to go ahead and try the tomato soup.

I dug around online to find a recipe that included all of the ingredients I had in mind and came across this little beauty from The CD Kitchen.

And let me tell you

This soup is the bomb diggity! I'm in love & it's my new favorite, and best soup I've made yet. hands down! It's definitely in the OHMYGOD THIS IS SO GOOD!! category.

I make all my soups in my crock pot because I'm busy & have a very short attention span. So it's better for me to make soup slowly when I don't have to constantly keep watch on it. So I could smell this one cooking all day & I could barely stand it! As soon as it was done, I poured my self a big bowl & dug in.

And I ate every last drop. It was *that* good. Seriously.

So here's what you'll need:

1 stick of unsalted butter
1 medium onion, diced
2 stalks of celery chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons unbleached whole wheat flour
4 cups vegetable stock
2 cans (14.5 oz size) tomatos
1 can of tomato paste
1/4 tsp of dried red pepper
2 bay leaves
fresh orgeno to taste
2 teaspoons of fresh basil
¼ cup of soy milk (totally optional. i usually leave it out entirely & don't notice a difference)
1/2 tsp of lime juice
kosher salt & cracked black pepper to taste

Put the crock pot on the "High" setting.
1. cut the butter into pats & place in the crock pot on to melt
2. While it's melting, chop up the onion, garlic & celery & add them to the pot.
3. Stir well & to coat the veggies with the butter
4. While they are simmering, chop of the fresh Oregeno & Sage and add to the pot.

This was the first time I've used fresh oregeno & it was wonderful.

5. Stir all ingredients well and add the red pepper, kosher salt & black pepper to taste.
6. Still well & cover pot. Switch the crock pot setting to "Low" and allow to simmer for 15 minutes or so, stirring occasionally.

At this point, the mix already smelled so good I was practically drooling. I was very seriously considering eating this as is. Maybe over pasta or on bread. It smelled that good.


It should look something like this. All veggies should be coated in the butter and simmering .

7. Add the flour and stir well
8. Stir in the canned tomatoes
9. Stir in the can of tomato paste, and you'll have a nice happy mixture like this.
10. Add the vegetable stock and lime juice. Stir well and place lid back on pot.
11. Leave this to cook for about 4 hours, stirring occasionally.
12. Put the soup in a blender until it comes out with a creamy consistency.
13. Pour in the soy cream and stir well.
14. Serve and devour!
I put some of this in containers in my freezer for work. But I also set some aside in my fridge because I know I'm going to want another bowl tomorrow.

Or maybe even later tonight...