It’s another snowy and cold day here in the midwest. Usually I don’t mind the winter months and I actually quite welcome the changing season but this year is something different. I don’t know if it is because I now have two toddlers locked in the house with me on a daily basis or if it is because I can’t seem to warm myself up this pregnancy. Maybe a combination of the two but I can tell you I dream of the warm sun often. Ahhh sun what do you feel like?
Anyways, what is better to warm up than a nice creamy soup? One of my favorite childhood meals was always tomato soup and grilled cheese. Nothing beat the creamy goodness of Campbell’s plus an extra gooey grilled cheese you can only really achieve from processed kraft slices. I’m surprised I survived my childhood (just joking mom). The things we didn’t know then.
But now back to the reality that processed food is less than desirable for our bodies and in fact downright harmful in a lot of different ways. But that doesn’t mean we should live a life deprived of the foods that we love. Remember, food is meant to taste delicious, but it can mean we lose the convenience of popping off the top on a can and microwaving it till piping hot.
However, there is hope that not all food takes hours to cook from scratch and in fact the very taste of something homemade is savory and satisfying. This creamy tomato soup, literally takes minutes to get into a pot on the stove and start simmering. You won’t even think about those extra minutes spent putting the ingredients together when you taste the creamy goodness of this hearty tomato soup.
And because I personally love the gooey-ness of melted cheese I just fried some cheese curds (any kind of cheese will work) on the stove top in butter for a few minutes and topped my soup with it. All the flavors of grilled cheese right inside your soup bowl. MMM MMM GOOD!
- 2 Tbsp Coconut Oil
- 2 Tbsp Butter
- 1 Sweet Onion, Finely Chopped
- 28 oz. Crushed or Whole Tomatoes (in their own juice)
- 1½ cups Chicken Broth
- 2 Bay Leaves
- ½ cup Heavy Cream (Coconut Cream works as well)
- Salt & Pepper, to taste
- Heat oil and butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Once butter foams, add onion and a big pinch of salt. Season with freshly ground black pepper.
- Cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is completely soft and just beginning to brown, about 15 minutes.
- Add tomatoes and juices to the pan and stir to crush up tomatoes. Add broth and bay leaves and bring to a simmer.
- Simmer until tomatoes begin to fall apart, about 10 minutes.
- Remove from heat, discard bay leaves, and allow soup to cool slightly. Carefully purée soup in a blender or with an immersion blender until smooth (you may have to do this in batches). Return soup to the stove over low heat and stir in cream. Taste and adjust seasoning as desired.
- Top with fresh basil and fried cheese.
