Creamy Tomato Soup

Jessie mentioned tomato soup the other day, and I immediately thought to myself, "Oh my gosh...I haven't had tomato soup since I was a little kid!" It's true: I really haven't had it for that long, and I used to love when my mom made a big pot of it when I was little. Her version of tomato soup was always really creamy, and unfortunately, even after pawing through her recipes countless times, I've never come across that one. Since I hadn't eaten tomato soup for years and had never made it myself, I didn't feel completely comfortable coming up with my own creation. So, I turned to good old Allrecipes to steer me in the right direction.

Tomato soup with grilled cheese for dipping is something I equate with childhood, and it's something I want Andrew to equate with his childhood, too, so I'll definitely be making this a lot in the future. And I don't know if I'll ever need another recipe, because this one was delicious. I sort of have a love affair with cream cheese, and its creamy sweetness really adds a lot to this soup. I did add salt and pepper to taste, which was conspicuously absent from this recipe, but otherwise kept everything the same. Fresh basil would definitely have been better, but the dried is definitely fine if it's all you have on hand. Joe and I both loved this, especially served with delicious grilled cheese.


Creamy Tomato Soup
Source: Allrecipes

1 medium onion, chopped
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
2 (14.5 ounce) cans diced tomatoes, undrained
2 (10.75 ounce) cans condensed tomato soup, undiluted
1 1/2 cups milk
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
Salt and pepper to taste
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, cubed

1. In a saucepan, saute onion in butter until tender. Stir in tomatoes, soup, milk, sugar, basil, paprika and garlic powder. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10 minutes.

2. Stir in cream cheese until melted. Serve immediately.