Yummy Creamy Tomato Soup

Ok I am the first to admit, I hated tomato soup until recently. But that is because the only tomato soup I had ever exposed myself to was Campbells Tomato soup-YUCK! I use it for recipes, but to eat by itself, not a fan. So I recently ventured out and tried some tomato basil soup at the Orbits Cafeteria (my work cafeteria) of all places and it was good! I thought to  myself I could make that. It actually reminded me alot of the Penne ala Betsey I made recently. So I went to all my favorite cooking websites and searched for a creamy tomato soup recipe. I found one I thought I would give a try on Tasty Kitchen. If you haven't checked that website out you should, I have found several awesome recipes there! You can get to it from The Pioneer Womans website. So I made this soup, loved it.  I could not not get Phil to try it, no surprise there,  but my sister came in town the day after I made it and she LOVED it. She ate a couple bowls of it, it's that good! When I ate it, I made myself a grilled swiss cheese sandwich to go with it and it was a perfect combo!

Creamy Tomato Soup- adapted from Tasty Kitchen

2-15 oz cans of whole tomatoes ( I used 1 large 28oz can)
1 can (15oz) of condensed tomato soup
1 6oz can tomato paste
3 C. chicken broth
1/4 cup finely diced white onion
1/2 stick unsalted butter
1 pint heavy cream
1 pinch basil to taste ( you could also use fresh basil )
1 pinch oregano to taste
Salt and pepper to taste
Shredded parm cheese for garnish

In a large pot over medium heat sautee the onion in the butter until the onions are clear. Add tomato paste and stir, work in the butter and onion to the paste. Slowly add the chicken broth, stirring well to combine. Add  the condensed soup and stir well. Add half of the canned tomatoes, stirring well after each addition. Place the other half of the tomatoes in foor processor or blender and pulse until smooth, now add to the soup. Turn heat up to med-high and add the heavy cream and all the spices. Taste frequently to check if you need more spices, better to start off with less and add more if you need it. Let soup simmer for 20-25 minutes before serving. Serve with grilled cheese or crusty french bread. Top soup with some shredded parmesean cheese too!

A few changes I made to the recipe is that I put all the whole tomatoes in the blender, I didn't want the soup to be chunky. Also next time I make it, I am subbing tomato sauce for the condensed tomato soup.

Enjoy!