"Creamy" Tomato Soup

Way back in December, I won a Limited Edition Muir Glen Reserve Kit, courtesy of The Spiced Life.  Four cans of Muir Glen tomatoes, packed in the cutest wooden mini-crate, along with a menu-style recipe booklet.  Although I was quick to thank Laura (and Alex for randomly selecting my entry), I have been quite tardy in actually using some of my well-gotten gain.

Until today!  Huzzah!  I made tomato soup!

I've never been able to make a decent tomato soup.  Every tomato soup up to now has looked and tasted like marinara sauce.  This version tastes a bit better, most likely due to the high quality of the tomatoes.  But it still resembles marinara sauce.   The reason might be due to my cheapo immersion blender, which does a poor job of pureeing.  I can get away with using it for most recipes, but not, it seems, with tomato soup.  TheHubby says,  "So go out and buy a blender or food processor or whatever you need already" (isn't that sweet of him?).   Nah, I'm patient, I can wait for my birthday Mother's Day.

I used half of my winnings for the soup:  one can of fire-roasted tomatoes and one can of plain.  But 2 of either can (can ... get it?) be used.

Because I was serving the soup with a meat meal, I substituted soy milk for the cream and omitted the quarter-cup parmesan cheese.   To jazz it up a bit, I garnished each serving with a spoonful of parve pesto sauce. Even without the dairy cooties it was still a nice soup to serve on a chilly Sunday evening.

"Creamy" Tomato Soup
adapted from Muir Glen
makes 4 servings

2 Tbl. olive oil
1 medium onion
1 Tbl. finely chopped garlic (bottled okay)
2 cans (14.5 oz each) diced tomatoes, undrained
1/2 cup soy milk
2 Tbl. chopped fresh basil leaves
1/2 tsp. salt (or to taste)
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper (or to taste)
1-2 Tbl. parve pesto

Dice onions.  In 3 or 4-quart saucepan, heat olive oil over medium heat.

When hot, add onions and saute 5 minutes.

Add garlic and continue to saute for 5 more minutes or until onion is soft and translucent.

Add tomatoes. 

Reduce heat to medium-low.  Simmer 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add soy milk and chopped basil. Using an immersion blender, puree until smooth.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serve hot with a dollop of pesto.