Fresh Tomato Soup

Blended up....

...Or left Chunky. Both ways are wonderful!

In my quest to rely less on canned food filled with sodium and preservatives (and all kinds of weird ingredients), I have been looking for good replace- ments for some of our basics. I found a pretty good replacement for Campbell's veggie soup (click here). I wanted a good alternative to canned tomato soup as well. There are some nights that all my husband wants for supper is grilled cheese and tomato soup, and I tend to agree...it makes a wonderful, warm meal! Would it be simpler to just crack open a can? Yeah. And I'm not saying I never will do that again. But with some extra time and effort, I can make a soup that is much healthier, and enough that I can freeze some for the next time (in which case I can just pop it out of the freezer, voila!)

I left half the soup chunky, and the other half I pureed in my blender. The hubby, oldest son and I loved how it tasted chunky, while the two youngest preferred smooth. Either way, this is a really great tomato soup, and will come in handy when I have fresh tomatoes to use up from the garden this summer. I improvised and used petite diced tomatoes this time. I imagine the flavors will be that much better with fresh tomatoes...mmm, can't wait to try!

Jersey Fresh Tomato Soup (Ness413 via allrecipes.com)

INGREDIENTS

• 7 cups peeled, seeded, and chopped tomato (can use two 28 oz can petite diced)
• 1 cup finely chopped carrots
• 3/4 cup finely chopped onion
• 1 (13.75 ounce) can vegetable broth
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 2 teaspoons sea salt
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 cup 2% milk
• 2 teaspoons dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon celery salt (can use 1/4 t. ground celery seed)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

DIRECTIONS

1. Bring the tomatoes, carrots, and onion to a boil over medium-high heat in a stockpot, then reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer for 30 minutes. Stir in the chicken broth, sugar, and salt.
2. Melt the butter over medium-low heat in a small saucepan. Whisk in the flour, stirring until thick. Slowly whisk in the milk until smooth. Cook and stir, whisking constantly until thickened, about 5 minutes, then stir milk mixture in to the stockpot. Season with basil, celery salt, black pepper, and garlic powder. Continue to simmer the soup on low to reduce and thicken, about 1 hour.