This tomato soup is simple and tasty! If you love tomato
soup, you will REALLY love the flavor and ease of this recipe. I grew up on
Campbell’s, and although I always LOVED the soup, I never knew the incredible
goodness of HOMEMADE Tomato Soup until adulthood. One of my client-friends
turned me onto her stovetop recipe, while another enlightened me to her
crockpot recipe. I decided to take the two, along with my OWN additions, and
what I had on hand, and found a marriage of flavor and simplicity that is most
complimentary. Let me just say, this ain’t yo’mama’s Campbell’s, but I bet
you’ll have a hard time going back to it once your taste buds experience THIS!
My kids have offered this a “TWO-THUMBS UP “award, and I hope yours will too!
When I discover a recipe that is not only tasty, but easy, it’s a win-win AND a
no-brainer! I hope you and yours enjoy this lycopene-rich dish as much as ours
does! Please leave your comments about YOUR experience with this recipe- I
value your feedback! b’OMMM’appetite!
Place in a LARGE crockpot while on “LOW”
4 cans tomatoes
Handful of Spinach
¾ Sweet YELLOW onion; skinned; quartered
5-10 Carrots, broken in half
5-10 Celery stalks, broken in half
5-10 Cloves of garlic; skinned
1.5 Quart of Broth
(use what you desire here; vegetable OR
bone)
1 C Green Tea (this is completely optional, but one of those
inspired additions that wound up adding a subtle enhancement)
Sea Salt as desired
(I usually add 3 T; 2 T if salt was
added to tomatoes)
Pepper as desired
Once all ingredients are added, turn to “High” & allow
to cook for 4 full hours. You may leave this soup on LOW if you are unable to
attend it throughout the day and will not be returning to it for several hours.
Before serving or canning, blend with emersion blender and add any additional
spices you may feel it lacks. You will need to blend for 2-3 minutes to ensure you thorough chop and blend all the produce. If you
don’t have an emersion mixer, a large food processor will do. Just be cautious
when transferring hot contents from one location to the other. I know it SHOULD
go without saying, but soup splatters AND burns! I like to blend, add my
butter, prep enough for dinner, and set aside the rest for immediate
canning. If you prefer to freeze your
additional portions, be sure to allow for ample cooling PRIOR to bagging in
FREEZER BAGS. This will prevent any bags from melting, as well as preserve the
flavor without leaving that plastic bag after taste. See that you label with
the CONTENTS & DATE.
VARIATIONS:
Should you prefer the taste of a Tomato-Basil soup, follow
above, but add fresh Basil (aprx. 1-2 hardy handfuls, stem and all) after soup
has rested and BEFORE reheating. The robust flavor and powerful impact from the
ingestion of the oils is more PUNGENT if it can be released after MINIMAL heat
exposure and closest to the time of consumption. YOU CAN add the basil right
before blending and prior to canning, but I find it tastes best to add the
Basil at the time you plan to serve it, even if that means two years after
canning, but do what works for you in way of time and taste.
Should you wish to “bulk up” your soup, add one stick of
butter to the pot, along with aprx. 1 Cup of flour before blending the veggies.
This addition really depends on your texture preference. The pureed veggies
will have already provided a fairly thick base, but some prefer a thicker, creamier
soup. If after blending the butter and flour, you STILL wish it to be creamier,
slowly add aprx. ½ C-1 C heavy cream or whole milk. I would hold off on adding the milk or cream should you plan to store.
Serve this with whatever goodness you prefer. We LOVE tomato
soup with popcorn at our house. A grilled cheese is always satisfying and
pleasing to add to the plate, too. Crackers, croutons, chips or cheese, you
will find the simplicity of the soup can be complimented with JUST ABOUT
anything. b’OMMM’ APPETITE!
