Creamy Tomato Soup

I finally found a recipe for homemade tomato soup!  I have been looking for a homemade tomato soup recipe for quite some time, and just recently I purchased a book from Usborne Books called “The Usborne Healthy Cookbook” looking for healthy recipes that my kids will love.  Since Usborne is kid-centered, I knew there would be recipes in the book that my kids would like.  Much to my surprise, they had a homemade tomato soup recipe.  I thought I would share just in case there’s someone else out there on the hunt for a good homemade tomato soup recipe.  Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 lbs. ripe tomatoes (approximately 10), cut into quarters
• 1 red onion, peeled and cut into small pieces
• 1 medium carrot, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1 stick of celery, thinly sliced
• 1 medium potato (about 6 oz.), peeled and cut into 6 chunks
• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 clove garlic
• 1/2 vegetable bouillon cube
• 2 tbsp. tomato paste
• 1/2 tsp. dried basil or mixed herbs
• ground black pepper
• 4 tbsp. low-fat milk
• 4 small springs of fresh basil

Directions:

1. Remove cores from tomato quarters and toss away.  Dice the tomatoes.
2. Put olive oil into large saucepan and heat for 20 seconds.  Add onion and cook for approximately 3 minutes until onion is tender, stirring often.
3. Add celery and carrot slices and potato chunks to the saucepan.  Peel the clove of garlic and crush into the pan.  Cook these veggies for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Put the 1/2 vegetable bouillon cube in a heatproof container.  Add 2 cups of boiling water into the container.  Add tomato paste and stir until the bouillon cube is completely dissolved.
5. Add the stock, tomatoes, herbs and pinch of pepper to the saucepan.  Bring to a boil and then turn down the heat.  Cover the saucepan 3/4, leaving a small gap.
6. Let soup bubble gently for approximately 20 minutes.  Turn off heat and let cool 10 minutes.  Using a hand-held blender, blend soup until smooth – be careful when blending!
7. Add low-fat milk to the soup.  Gently reheat until bubbling, then remove from heat.
8. Top soup in bowl with a sprig of fresh basil before serving, if desired.