Creamy Tomato Soup

After making the Cream of Mushroom Soup we have been eager to experiment with other creamy soups.  What is better comfort soup than a grilled cheese with creamy tomato soup?  It came out yummalicious and was fairly easy!  The basil leaves on top were mostly for looks but tasted pretty darn good.  This batch yielded 3 large bowls of soup.  One more side note-we used Roma tomatoes and they have less liquid then many other varieties.  If you opt to use another type tomato you will want to remove the seeds.

Ingredients:
2 tbsp olive oil
two pinches of salt
1 medium onion diced
2 stalks of celery diced
1 medium bell pepper (red, yellow, or orange) diced
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp dried sage
2 tbsp flour
2 cups water
1 tbsp Vegetarian Better Than Bouillon No Chicken Base
1 1/2 lbs Roma tomatoes
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp paprika
3/4 cups heavy cashew cream

In a soup pot saute onion, celery, bell pepper and one pinch of salt in 1 tbs olive oil over medium low heat until onions are translucent.  Add pepper, basil, sage and flour and cook for five more minutes.  Slowly stir in 2 cups water.  Add bouillon. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 30 minutes.

While broth is simmering, in a separate pan, saute tomatoes in 1 tbs olive oil with one pinch of salt, garlic powder and paprika.  Saute over medium heat for 5 minutes, then allow tomatoes to cook over low heat until you add broth to blender.

After broth has simmered for 30 minutes, pour into a blender with cooked tomatoes and blend on high until smooth and creamy. It took a minute or so in the Vita-mix. Mixture back into soup pot and bring to a boil.  As soon as it has boiled remove from heat and stir in cashew cream.  Do not let it boil once cashew cream is added because it will crack (remember this if you happen to have left overs that you are trying to reheat.)