Tuesday Recipe Bloggin'

Well, as I have slacked well beyond normal slackerdom with this one, here are two cold weather soothers for your recipe books!

Tomato Basil Soup

1 tbls olive oil
1 medium sweet onion, chopped
1 can crushed peeled tomatoes
5 cups vegetable or chicken stock
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup loosely packed fresh basil, thinly sliced

Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot over medium high heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring often, until softened, about 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes and the stock. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Cook until soup is slightly thickened, about 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Stir in basil before serving.



Tortellini Tomato Spinach Soup

1 tbls olive oil
1/2 cup minced onion (about 1/2 small onion)
1 clove garlic, minced
4 to 6 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1 (14-ounce) can whole tomatoes, crushed through your fingers or coarsley chopped
1 (9-ounce) package fresh tortellini or 4 servings dried tortellini
Coarse grained salt and cracked black pepper
10 ounces fresh or frozen spinach, defrosted and chopped (I recommend a bit less)
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan, very loosely packed

In a 3-quart soup pot, heat olive oil over medium high heat. Saute the onion and garlic, stirring often until onions are translucent, about 5-7 minutes. Add broth and tomatoes, turn heat up to high and bring to a boil. Add the tortellini and cook according to package instructions. When tortellini is almost done, add spinach and taste, adjust seasonings with salt and pepper. Serve immediately. Garnish each serving with a sprinkling of Parmesan.


Well, there you go, I've tried the second and its yummy yummy, but I prefer to use petite diced tomatoes as I'm not of fan of having the seeds from the whole tomatoes. Petite have skins, so if you don't like that, use the whole or you can use crushed if you like.