Tomato Soup

I love making soup, but have always been intimidated by tomato soup. And, honestly, I still am, in that I'm not ready to make it from tomatoes I pluck from the vine. But Rachael Ray, man, I love her. You know that, so long as you have the ingredients, you'll be able to make one of her recipes. Or, I know that I can, and feel like most people could, because she's very good at sharing easy, quick, real recipes.

Here's her recipe, with my modifications in bold parens:

2 (15-ounce) containers, chicken or vegetable stock/broth (preferred brand: Kitchen Basics) (30 ounces chicken broth, made from water and Better Than Boullion chicken base)
1 (28-ounce) can concentrated crushed tomatoes (organic crushed tomatoes - I couldn't find concentrated)
1 cup heavy cream
Coarse salt and black pepper

Fresh basil for garnish (I left off the basil only because I didn't have any)

Directions:
Combine broth and tomatoes in a medium saucepan over moderate heat. When soup bubbles, stir in heavy cream and reduce heat to low. Season with a little salt and pepper and simmer gently 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. With an immersion blender, puree soup. Serve bowls of soup with basil chiffonade and floating soup toppers (grated provolone, a bit of freshly ground pepper - delish!).

This soup is simple, easy, and so tasty. The flavor is more mild than Campbell's, but that doesn't mean there isn't depth of flavor. It means that there's no high fructose corn syrup. Looking at reviews, folks have switched the cream for lower fat options and have enjoyed the results.

Andy used the immersion blender just a bit, so there are some tiny bites of tomato, I love it like this. And, you could do this with a regular blender, just use your patience, as you'll be working with HOT soup.