Tomato Soup

It was a cool, rainy weekend in the coastal Carolina area and I was craving some warm, creamy soup.  I was about to heat up a can of tomato when I thought, what the hey, I have lots of canned tomatoes from last summer, let's make some from scratch!

The store brand:  Campbell's Tomato Soup

My Recipe:
1 28 oz can whole plum or diced tomatoes
1 tsp olive oil
1 tbsp flour
1 tbsp tomato paste
3 cloves garlic
1/2 medium onion, diced
1/2 cup half and half

Easy to make - saute your onions and garlic in olive oil for about 5 minutes until translucent. 

Add your tomato paste and flour and then slowly add some water from the tomatoes while stirring to get out the lumps.  Once you get a smooth consistency add all the tomatoes.  Simmer 20-30 minutes.

 

Puree with a hand blender or blend it in a blender/food processor.  Add the half and half and enjoy. 

Optional: Garnish with fresh basil and croutons.  I used some homemade croutons!

I can't even begin to explain how much better the homemade soup was.  My husband said in comparison the Campbell's tasted like ketchup, but bad.  I made mine with half skim milk and half water.  The homemade was just so much more tomato-y and had some texture to it.

The price didn't come out much different.  My recipe made more soup - you could easily half this if you are making it for yourself and use a small can of diced tomatoes.  It costs a little more to make your own, but TOTALLY worth it in my opinion.

	Size	Cost	Cost/Cup
Campbell's Tomato Soup	21.5 oz	$       1.12	$            0.42
Homemade	32 oz	$       1.92	$            0.48

Overall, the homemade tomato soup took about 40 minutes from start to finish, but only about 10 minutes of hands-on work.  I have to say it was really, really easy.

Bake or Buy?  BAKE!