Recipe: Tomato Soup

The only thing better than a big hot bowl of soup on a cold day is a big hot bowl of soup that all came together in a food processor for super cheap and makes enough to feed.  This is not a fussy soup and eschews some of the traditional ingredients such as  milk, cream, or basil (though the latter would have been great had I had some).  I add thickness and creaminess to the soup with white beans but otherwise let the tomatoes do the talking.  You will need a large food processor such as a 10-14 cup but you can process it in batches and then add into the pot.  This would be great if you wanted to add thawed, wrung, spinach, or as you'll see at the bottom some cheese and pieces of ham.  There are so many options.



You will need:
Two 28oz cans whole tomatoes
1 can original Rotel tomatoes and green chilies
1 can white beans, drained and washed
1-2 cans white beans, drained and washed separately, optional
Up to 2 cups or so stock, to thin soup if desired
Salt
Pepper
Dash of Cumin
Garnish: Cheese, ham, basil, splash of cream, bacon, avocado

In your food processor pulse and then process the two cans of whole tomatoes, the Rotel, and one can of the white beans to your desired consistency.  Mine was fairly smooth with a few tomato chunks left.  Add these ingredients to a large pot and simmer for 30 minutes, adding extra cans of drained white beans if you want some texture and stock if it thickens to more than your liking.  As the soup warms, add the salt, pepper and cumin to taste.  Makes 4-6 servings.