I hope everyone’s had a great long weekend remembering all who’s served and are serving and enjoying time with family and friends! I have been moving all the weekend. I think for the most part we have all the small stuff moved over. Just waiting for this Saturday to move all the furniture to the house and then we’ll be officially in. We’re still staying in the apartment, which really sucks because it’s really barren and whenever we go to the new house to organize, I’m just wishing we were already in there! Oh, so my props and spice/pantry were 5 separate boxes. I think they each weighed like 20 pounds. It’s ridiculous, but I’m so thrilled to be in my new kitchen because the cabinet space is SO spacious and it holds so much. Which, is funny because now what was busting at the seams at the apartment, it’s so empty at the new house. I guess I gotta purchase more props ;)
Since I’ve been moving all weekend and we’ve been living off of leftovers, pizza, and take-out, I thought I’d share a really simple recipe that is great to make ahead of time and put half the batch in the freezer and half in the fridge so you can heat it up whenever, ie: when you’re moving.
Tomato soup is one of my favorite soups, ever. It’s just so good. I love the consistency and the flavor. Simplicity at its best! I love pairing it with some grilled cheese. Best comfort combination. We had it with the bacon & avocado grilled cheese a few weeks ago. Oh my gosh, it was perfection.
Grab the recipe below to make this silly easy dish to pair with your favorite dinner!
Also, Rachel of Rachel Cooks is featuring me in her “Day in the Life” series so go on over there to check out what a regular day for me is like…it’s definitely not all about food, although I often wish it were :)
Kickin' Tomato Soup
Ingredients
- 1 large onion, finely chopped
- 6 cloves of garlic, minced
- 3: 14 oz cans of fire-roasted tomatoes
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 1/4 cup half and half
- 1/2 tbsp crushed red pepper flakes*
- Large handful of basil leaves, coarsely chopped
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- In a large pot, saute the onions with some olive oil until translucent then add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes.
- Next, add in the tomatoes and cook covered for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Then add in the chicken stock and half and half, bring to a simmer and cook uncovered for 10-15 minutes, until mixture has thickened.
- Add the basil, crushed red pepper, and salt/pepper. Lower your heat and cook for 5 minutes more.
- Using an immersion blender, puree the soup until it is a smooth consistency and there are no large chunks left.
- Serve immediately with some crusty bread or grilled cheese!
- You can store this in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Notes
Mmmmmmmm tomato souuuuuuuppppaaaaa.
So glad you snuck in some fresh basil in this. Tomato soup is not complete without it in my opinion :)
Good luck with all the moving this week. I seriously dread our next move, I loathe every bit of the whole process.
This sounds so delicious and full of flavour!
You can’t have soup without grilled cheese! :) It’s so drizzly and blah here today, I think I need soup :)
I think my favorite part of our new place (and still is) is the amount of cabinet space in the kitchen. I can’t wait to see it all put together, so glad you guys got lots moved this weekend! This soup sounds perfect too. I love a little spice in my tomato soup!!
Saw your kitchen picture from Rachel’s blog. Love how full of light and spacious it is!!
I feel like my posts will end up changing since I’ll have so much natural light in my new kitchen..it’d be much easier to take step by step photos! We’ll see :)
i think homemade tomato soup is one of the tastiest things in the world, especially with a grilled cheese. YUM!
Spacious cabinets!!!!! I am SO jealous! Congrats on the move, Julie. I can’t wait to move out of my teeny tiny apartment (with horrible lighting!)
love love loving this kicked up tomato soup! I love things with a little SPICE! Can’t wait to check out your Day In The Life! :)
I totally sympathize, I just went thought this. Good luck to you and I hope that you are reunited with your spices and your props soon!
I’m so excited for your new place, Julie! And I definitely need your new address to send you that box I’ve been working on.
Also, I was laughing so hard about the 5 x 20lb kitchen boxes. I’m sure I have just as much crap, but yay for more prop stuff! Oh and that soup is awesome. It’s getting a bit hot here in LA but I would never turn down a soothing, hearty, tomato soup with a little bit of heat.
yumm love tomato soup! and it is so easy!!
There is nothing better that a good tomato soup. Especially when your’e super burned out from moving and take out.
Tomato soup is a definite favorite with the boys, I will be trying this soon. So comforting!
I’m packing my kitchen right now too and it’s out of control how much stuff I have! A big kitchen in our next house is definitely on the list of things I’ll need :) So excited for you!
This looks so yummy! I love tomato soup.
I mean, is there anything better than tomato soup? I think not!
There’s nothing quite as comforting as homemade tomato soup!
This soup looks so comforting Julie and I would love the spicy kick! I love the fire roasted canned tomatoes in soups, they add so much flavor!
I love making soups in the summer because you can make a big batch and freeze most of it to thaw out and heat up quickly for an easy, oven-free weeknight meal. This looks like just the thing to go alongside a grilled cheese!
The fifth step says to add the cooked chicken…but it’s not listed under ingredients. Is this supposed to have chicken?
Lol wow, not sure why I put that step in. I removed it. Definitely doesn’t have chicken except for chicken broth!