Today I’m sharing one of my favorite recipes; Creamy Tomato Basil Soup.   It is just simply the most luscious Tomato Basil Soup ever, if I do say so myself.

Last week when I showed you how to transplant basil indoors for the winter, I promised to show you what else I do with my basil and trust me, this recipe is worthy of using up some of that fresh basil.

I chopped up the veggies and fresh basil and other spices for the soup and tossed them and poured in some chicken broth in the Crock Pot and set it on high. (And yes, you can use fresh  or canned tomatoes  in this recipe.  All my tomatoes are ripening late this year and I am trying to find a way to use them up quickly!)

The soup had been in the slow-cooker  for 3 hours when my daughter dropped by and  I mentioned I was about to make bread.  I asked her if she wanted to try her hand at bread-making and she was delighted to do so as her boyfriend sat near-by and watched the entire process. 🙂

The Bread Choice

She chose to make the Artisan version of my ‘Best 1 Hour Bread recipe’.  It turned out brown and crusty and smelled so good that I am amazed any of it lasted until dinnertime.

It is a good recipe for bread-novices and I think she did a great job with minimum input from me.

At this point I blended the soup in small batches and returned it to the slow-cooker where I whisked in the warmed cream and milk and  the shredded Parmesan cheese.  Putting the lid on, I turned it down to low and let it cook for another hour.

The cheese, cream and pureed veggies all add up to make a lovely, thick soup.  A  warm bowl of this delightful stuff along with some crusty 1 Hour Artisan Bread and you have a meal that will have the whole family asking for seconds.  Oh and incidentally, it re-warms well the next day, should you be lucky enough to have any soup left over.  Enjoy! — Laura

 The recipe for the the Best 1 hour Bread (with Artisan instructions) can be found here.

Slow-Cooker Creamy Tomato Basil Soup

Laura Hickman

Easy but sophisticated, this Creamy Tomato Basil Soup is sure to be a hit with company and family alike.

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 5 hours hrs

Total Time 5 hours hrs 15 minutes mins

Course Entree

Cuisine American

Servings 10 servings

Calories 131 kcal

Ingredients

  

• 5 cups tomatoes peeled, chopped and seeded or 40 oz canned diced tomatoes.
• 1 small onion chopped
• 1/2 tsp. chopped garlic 2 cloves
• 1/2 cup carrots chopped
• 1/2 cup chopped celery
• 1/4 cup fresh basil leaves stems removed and chopped*
• 1 tsp. oregano
• 4 cups chicken broth or vegetable broth
• 1 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup shredded fresh Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper

Instructions

 

• Pour all the prepared vegetables along with the garlic, basil, oregano, and broth into the slow-cooker. Add salt and pepper.
• Cover and cook on high 3-4 hours till vegetables are fork tender.
• Working carefully, ladle soup into a large heat-proof bowl and then blend it in 1 or 2 cup batches in blender for 15-30 seconds each, returning it to the Slow-cooker after blending. (The batches must be small. The heat from the soup will make the air in the blender expand — you don’t want hot soup all over the kitchen and you!)
• After soup is replaced into slow-cooker, gently warm cream in a small saucepan. Heat the mixture without scalding.
• Gently whisk hot cream into slow-cooker and then sprinkle in the shredded Parmesan cheese and gently stir it in. Add the salt
• Replace lid and turn down to low. Cook for 1 more hour and then serve.

Notes

You can skip blending the blending if you wish to serve it Provençal style.
*Add up to 2 more tablespoons of basil to increase it to a geneous 1/3 cup if you want a stronger basil flavor in the soup.

Keyword tomato soup and bread

Thanks to my inspirations:

Fine Cooking

All Recipes

Food Network