Roasted Pepper and Tomato Soup

Grilled cheese and tomato soup is one of my ultimate comfort foods. Growing up, I usually snacked on gold old Campbell's, but with with a little extra effort, this simple dinner can be really, really delicious.

almost-from-scratch tomato soup. 

When I first decided to make tomato soup, I really wanted to make it from scratch-- you know, using actual tomatos. I looked through countless from-scratch recipes, but nothing was really sticking out. It's not exactly tomato season, and the shipped-from-9-million-miles-away grocery store tomatoes just aren't that appealing. I finally settled on this recipe, and I absolutely loved it. No, it's not really from scratch, but that's okay: it's pretty fast, ridiculously delicious, and makes for a perfectly warming meal.

Recipe
(adopted from this recipe; serves one pretty hungry Vanessa and one ravenous Ben.)

Ingredients
1 can crushed tomatoes
3 cups vegetable broth
1-2 cups jarred roasted red peppers
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon lemon juice*
1 teaspoon dried basil (if you have fresh, that would definitely be better!)
1 teaspoon dried oregano
Salt & Papper to taste

Step 1: In a large saucepan, bring the crushed tomatos and broth to a simmer.

Step 2: Meanwhile, puree roasted peppers and garlic. If you're using a spiffy immersion blended, like me, I highly recommend pre-dicing the peppers. Otherwise, you'll end up with pepper all over the walls, the sink, and in your hair. Not that I know from experience or anything...

Step 3: Add the pepper mixture to the tomato and stock mixture. Add lemon juice, basil, and oregano. Simmer for an additional 30 minutes, then serve. 

bon appetit!

in addition to grilled cheese, I like to add in a side of sauteed spinach. 

ben: this soup is delicious!

ben: please stop taking photos for your blog while I'm
eating dinner....

*The original recipe calls for three tablespoons lemon juice. This is way, way, way too much, unless you're going for tomato-lemon soup.