Delicious Tomato Bisque

This past week I was craving some good ol' homemade soup and I don't know about you but, I love me some homemade soup during fall and winter! It just makes me feel so warm and toasty inside :) Throw out your canned tomato soup cause this one is going to blow your socks off! OK, I don't know about that, but it is really good ;) Not only does it taste so much better, it is actually way better for you! So here is the recipe that I came up with :) Enjoy!

~Recipe Created By: Ashley Willoughby~

Tomato Bisque

Makes: 6-8 servings ~ Prep Time: 20 min ~ Cook Time: 25-30 min ~ Ready in: Approx. 50 min

Ingredients

1/4 cup butter

1 onion, chopped

2 celery stalks, chopped fine

2 carrot, peeled and chopped fine

3 cloves garlic, minced

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 (6 oz) can tomato paste

1 (28 oz) can petite diced tomatoes, drained

6 oz. (about 1/2 cup) sweet roasted red peppers

4 cups chicken broth

3 tablespoons white sugar (You need the sugar to help balance the acidity of the tomatoes, so don't leave this out!)

dash of ground nutmeg

2 tablespoons sour cream

2 tablespoons milk

Directions

Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Stir in the onion, celery, carrot, and garlic. Cook and stir until the vegetables are tender, about 8-10 minutes. Stir in the flour and cook for approximately 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly.

Stir in the tomato paste until incorporated. Then add chicken broth, tomatoes, red peppers, sugar, and nutmeg. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer 15 minutes until the vegetables are very tender.

Mix sour cream and milk together until smooth and stir into tomato mixture.

Pour the soup into a food processor and pulse mixture slightly and then puree until you reach the consistency you want. I left mine slightly chunky, I like to be able to have a little texture in my tomato bisque.

(If you don’t have a food processor you can also use a blender. When pureeing soup in a blender don’t start it on a high speed at first, just pulse a little at a time then work-up to a higher speed. An immersion blender is also perfect for soups, you can just puree right in your saucepan!)

Place soup back in stock pot and warm to desired temperature. Garnish and Serve!

*Note: To make the fun swirly design in your soup... mix a little sour cream with some milk (to thin it down) and put in a sandwich baggie. Cut the corner off slightly, and I mean slightly, you don't want a huge hole, it WILL make a huge mess! Then going from the center of your bowl make a bull's eye, with a continuous line going towards the outside of the bowl. Then using a toothpick, swirl through the sour cream. Garnish with some celery leaves and voile you have a super cute design that only took seconds!

And yes, celery leaves sounds strange but it is just like using parsley as a garnish, and it really does taste good. *Remember when making any dish you want your garnish to complement your dish. In other words when the consumer is eating it, the garnish should tell them what flavors are also in the dish and what to expect. Just a fun little culinary tid-bit ;)

This also recipe works perfectly to freeze as well, just follow

Kimberly's freezer cooking tips!

Linking up to:

http://www.katiesnestingspot.com/

http://notsohomemade.blogspot.com/