Creamy Tomato Soup

Creamy Tomato Soup

Snowy weather brings out my desire for comfort foods. The combination of tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich is one of my favorites.  I had already baked a loaf of bread and I had cheese,  so I could make a grilled cheese sandwich. All I needed was to make the soup.

I canned plenty of tomatoes in the summer, so I had them on hand. With the addition of a few other ingredients, I soon had a lovely soup to go with my grilled cheese sandwich. I ended up using a jar of yellow tomatoes, so my soup came out a bright orange color. Very pretty, although it didn’t look a lot like tomato soup!!

A simple soup, with lots of flavor, it is a favorite of mine. So much better than the canned tomato soup of my childhood.

Creamy Tomato Soup

2 T. oil or butter

1 c.  chopped onion

1 pint canned tomatoes- or a 14 oz. can of tomatoes or 2 c. fresh tomatoes, chopped up

1 rib celery, chopped

1 small bay leaf

salt and pepper to taste

1 c. chicken or vegetable stock

1 c. half and half or milk

Hot sauce

In saucepan, heat oil and cook onions until a little golden. Add tomatoes with celery and bay leaf. Bring mixture to a boil; reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. Remove the bay leaf. Add the stock and simmer 5 more minutes, allowing mixture to reduce a little. Add half and half and season to taste. Puree soup until smooth.  Add hot sauce to taste. Serves 2.