Tomato Soup

I want to start this by saying I'm NOT a soup person!  I think I've written about this before, however, there are a few types of soups I truly enjoy!  One of them happens to be Tomato Soup - but I'm VERY picky!!!!  I absolutely LOVE the way the restaurant The Smith in NYC makes their tomato soup and since I can't get that here in Jacksonville, the next best thing for me is Panera's.

I've never made tomato soup before and decided to give it a shot today!  I didn't use one specific recipe, but instead, blended a few different ones.  It turned out great, but.....not The Smith's.  As I've also stated previously, I don't really go grocery shopping to get ingredients for a recipe and sort of work with what I have at home instead.  This may be why the soup didn't turn out exactly like The Smith's! LOL!  Next time, I'll try to get the right ingredients.  First of all, I didn't have canned, peeled tomatoes. I decided to use some crushed tomatoes I had and broil 3 of my regular tomatoes, remove the skin, and add them to the soup.  I also didn't have half and half and instead used the whole milk I had in the fridge.  One recipe said to use a parmesan rind (which I DID happen to have) and another said to add a bay leaf....I did both of these things!  I also added a bouillon cube for flavor as well as some garlic and onion powder.

Here are the three recipes I went back and forth with while making it today:
http://www.thriftydiydiva.com/copycat-panera-bread-creamy-tomato-bisque-soup-recipe/

http://www.foodnetwork.ca/recipe/creamy-tomato-soup/11926/

http://citycookin.com/roasted-tomato-soupthe-smith/
I found this recipe after I had already started making it the other two ways....next time I might just give this one way a shot!

Here are some pics of the soup:

After pureeing and putting back in the pot with some milk

Placing in the Vitamix

Grated parmesan for garnish

Placing the roasted tomatoes in the stew with the parmesan rind

Crushed tomatoes, onions, garlic, and chicken broth

Tomatoes fresh out from under the broiler

Leave out the tomato skin!!!

Pinterest Repin

I always get notifications that other people repin some of the "pins" I have on Pinterest.  Last night 2 people repinned this mushroom and sundried tomato recipe I've tried in the past and I decided to try it again last night!  I realized that I didn't have any mushrooms, so I just made it with sundried tomatoes and some sauteed red onion and garlic instead.  I also didn't have the half and half or the heavy cream and just used whole milk instead (we ALWAYS have whole milk in the fridge for my 2 year old!).  I had some left over shredded parmesan from the eggplant roll up dish the night before, and so, that made the recipe doable!

I also decided to grill some asparagus on the side using my cast iron grill pan on the stovetop.  Everything turned out great!  My husband and 2 year old loved it :)

Here's the Pinterest recipe I loosely followed:
http://juliasalbum.com/2014/02/sun-dried-tomato-and-mushroom-pasta/


Here's how dinner turned out last night!

I didn't have any fettuccine and instead I used an egg noodle I had in the pantry!

Grilled asparagus

We got hungry later that night and I decided to make a caprese salad!  Costco just happened to have some great mozzerella and I bought amazing tomatoes from Publix earlier in the week.  Topped it with some fresh basil from my herb garden and some olive oil and balsamic......mmmmmm.