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Tomato Soup recipe Makes about 3-4 quarts.

I got asked for this recipe by the gang at work, so here it is! For those of you, ahem, who don’t like mushrooms feel free to omit them!

1 medium onion , two cloves garlic, 2 stalks celery chopped fine. (I did this in my food processor)

Saute these in a small amount of vegetable oil until onion starts to soften. Add 4-6 large mushrooms also chopped fine (see note)

Add 3 cans of whole tomatoes, chopped or processed in food processor. I try not to process these down to puree, but you don’t want too many chunks of tomatoes. Of course, I do like some chunks, so process one can less than the others.

Add some broth or bouillon. I used: “Better Than Bouillon Vegetable Base” by Superior Touch. The instructions say to mix about 1.5 Tablespoon in a quart of boiling water. It’s a paste and is pretty ok as far as ingredients go. I started with a quart of bouillon – enough to keep the soup from resembling marinara sauce!

Seasonings? A generous tablespoon of parsley, a bay leaf, a pinch of cayenne pepper, and black pepper.

Simmer awhile and serve with a good bread. I serve by putting pasta and some parmesan cheese grated into a bowl and pouring the hot soup over it. Keeps well and freezes well. Don’t store with the pasta in the soup. It aborbs all the liquid. Add more broth if needed to keep soupy. Oh, the note — next time I make this I’ll probably slice the mushrooms more uniformly and saute them separately, adding them after the soup has simmered awhile. If you like your tomato soup creamier in texture, put through a food mill or blender until smooth.

Just a note on the Better Than Bouillon I found this and a few other links to it online. Apparently it’s sold on QVC. Well, I found it in my local Hannaford store for $3.29, instead of $4-5 a jar! Seems like a lot of people out there are using this stuff.