tomato tortellini soup & bacon grilled cheese

time: 30 mins
ingredients:
1 9oz pkg of refrigerated cheese tortellini
2 cans 10 3/4 oz each of reduced sodium condensed tomato soup
2 cups veg or chicken broth
2 cups of milk (i used skim)
2 cups of half & half
1/2 cup of chopped sun dried tomatoes
1 tsp of onion powder
1 tsp of garlic salt
1 tsp of dried basil
1/2 tsp of salt
1/2 cup of parmesan cheese

cook tortellini as directed. in a big pot combine soup, broth, milk, half & half, sun dried tomatoes and seasoning. heat through. drain tortellini, add to soup and stir in cheese. serve with bacon grilled cheese...delicious!

Easy Tomato Soup

And twice last week, I made homemade tomato soup. Dean had some at Jason's Deli and said he wouldn't mind it if I made it for dinner, which was a total shocker since he "hates soups." I found a basic soup recipe on foodnetwork.com and tweaked it a bit. Pops, Dean and I loved it. Marnie thought it was "too thick" and kept calling it "sauce," and suggesting that we serve it over pasta or chicken. Weird. Apparently she is too accustomed to Campbells Tomato soup. :)

So here is my modified recipe:

Kylie's Tomato Soup

3 cans of chopped tomatoes
3/4 c olive oil
salt and cracked pepper

Drain tomatoes, and reserve the juice for later. Spread tomatoes onto cookie sheet and drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper. Roast in 450 degree oven for 30 mins, til they get a little color.

Meanwhile, dice:

2-3 stalks celery
2-3 carrots
1 large onion
3-4 cloves of garlic

In a large pot, heat:

3/4 c olive oil
1/4 c butter

Add

2 t dried basil (if you have fresh basil, wait and add it at the end of the soup with the milk)
and all the veggies

Saute the veggies til they are pretty soft, about 20 mins.

Add

roasted tomatoes
2 c chicken broth (I used 2 chicken bullion cubes)
reserved tomato juice
2 bay leaves
2 T tomato paste

Simmer another 20 mins. Then remove bay leaves, and add

1 c milk (or cream)

Puree with a hand blender (carefully!), bring back to temperature and serve with a little mozzarella or Parmesan cheese and bread. Yum!