BMN # 83: Week 1, Day 2
Theme : Soups and Stews
I used to make tomato soup only from fresh tomatoes. But recently that I came across this super easy version with canned tomatoes and I have been making this every now and then when my son asks for it. My son is a big fan of tomato soup with croutons.
When I was in India, I always used to feel a little jealous about all the ready made food items that you can pick off the shelf from a supermarket in US. Like for this recipe, its just mixing canned tomatoes, bottled pesto and cream/evaporated milk for a few minutes. Its only after moving to US that I understood how much more domestic work load is there for the families here. My day started with cooking and packing lunch. After my son and my husband left, I was sweeping and mopping the house, loading the dish washer, hand washing the pans that cannot go in it, washing the clothes and folding and ironing them later. Almost all of those chores was handled by my maid in India. By the the time I was done with all that, it was time to cook dinner and once the kid is home, your time is not yours anymore.
I am not working, so I have time to attend to all this. But if I was working, the amount of workload would still be the same. There is no way the families can manage all this, without a little help from occasional packaged items. I would never recommend opening packages every single day. But every now and then, we need all the help we can get.
So here is a quick recipe made with some easy to put together ingredients. Read on…
Ingredients:
- 2 teaspoons butter
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 2 14 oz. cans crushed tomatoes
- 1 cup milk
- 1/2 cup cream
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 teaspoons basil pesto
- salt and pepper as needed
Method:
- Heat the butter in a big pan. Saute the onion until pink. Add the canned tomatoes, season with salt and pepper. Cook it in a slow simmer for about 10 minutes. Take off the heat. Once its cool enough, puree the soup in small batches and return to the pot.
- Add in the milk and cream and bring it to a slow simmer. Turn the heat off and at the time of serving stir in a teaspoon or two of basil pesto. Serve with toasted bread and salad on the side.
Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing this BM#83
My Kitchen Trials 
That is one classic soup, so beautifully presented.
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That’s such a hearty and flavorful soup. I could sip on this every cold night.
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Lovely heartwarming soup. The use of canned tomatoes has given it a nice red colour
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The grass is green on the other side . While you are young one can still manage the work load , but as you age it’s quite a task !
I love that soup , my DIL makes it with canned tomatoes and I always feel it is one of the best tomato soups one can have . Super flavourful .
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The canned tomatoes definitely give a deep color to the soup. My little one’s version of a restaurant style tomato soup would be just this bowl :)
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Wow, thats an interesting addition of basil pesto to the usual tomato soup, cant wait to try this version.
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Sometimes, having access to short-cut pantry staples is a blessing. Your tomato soup looks gorgeous.
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My son loves tomato soup too. He loves to dunk his grilled cheese sandwich in it. Love your version made with canned tomatoes. I LOVE the addition of cream in there — makes it so creamy and yummy!!
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I guess the other side always look pretty!.I have heard my friends and family say was that since the place is no so polluted they don’t have to keep cleaning every day like we do here..anyway I am sure it is still tough to manage everything on your own..love the colour of your soup and it recipe sounds fantastic!
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