Roasted Tomato Soup

This recipe is something Laurie was making for one of our freezer soups for after baby comes and I did not think I would like it at all. Turns out, it is SUPER delish! Laurie said she would never buy canned tomato soup again and I agree! It is based off of a recipe from Food Network, but tweaked a little bit to our tastes.
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Ingredients Needed:
8 Roma tomatoes, halved and seeded
2 red peppers, quartered and seeded
1 onion
8 cloves garlic
2 teaspoons thyme
4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, divided
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
salt & pepper to taste
6 oz tomato paste
8 cups vegetable stock
1/4 cup chopped basil

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. On a sheet pan, toss tomatoes, peppers, onions and garlic in 2 tbsp olive oil, vinegar, thyme and salt and pepper.
3. Arrange tomatoes and pepper skin side up on sheet pan and bake for 45-50 minutes until slightly charred.
4. In a soup pot, bring remaining olive oil to a medium heat, add tomato paste and mix well.
5. Add the roasted vegetables and vegetable stock and bring to a boil.
6. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Let cool for awhile.
7. Either with immersion hand blender or by pouring into a stand blender, blend the soup in batches until smooth.
8. Pour soup back in pan after blending, heat until hot.
9. Serve with the chopped basil as a garnish.

Reminder when blending hot liquids to allow for expansion and let it be vented a little. If using a stand blender, fill only half way at a time.

Enjoy!

Zuppa Toscana(Italian Sausage Potato Soup)

This is a recipe I got from a girl at work. It is very similar to Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana.
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Ingredients Needed:
1 lb ground Italian sausage
1½ tsp crushed red peppers
1 large diced white onion
4 Tbsp bacon pieces
2 tsp garlic puree
10 cups water
5 cubes of chicken bouillon
1 cup heavy cream
1 lb sliced Russet potatoes, or about 3 large potatoes
¼ of a bunch of kale

1. Sautee Italian sausage and crushed red pepper in pot. Drain excess fat, refrigerate while you prepare other ingredients.
2. In the same pan, sautee bacon, onions and garlic for approxiamtly 15 mins. or until the onions are soft.
3. Mix together the chicken bouillon and water, then add it to the onions, bacon and garlic. Cook until boiling.
4. Add potatoes and cook until soft, about half an hour.
5. Add heavy cream and cook until thoughouly heated.
6. Stir in the sausage.
7. Add kale just before serving.

ENJOY!!

Vegetable Beef Soup

This is a staple from when I was growing up. I absolutely love when my Mom or Grama make it, but I do pretty good too.
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Ingredients Needed:
1 beef pot roast, cubed
10 cups water
4 large potatoes, peeled and quartered
½ bag baby carrots
1 small onion, peeled and sliced
½ cup celery, diced
salt & pepper
egg noodles
1 can tomato paste

1. Mix beef, water, celery, onion and seasonings in large pot. Season to your taste.
2. Cook for couple of hours on low-medium heat until beef is completely cooked.
3. Add in carrots and potatoes, cook 30 minutes.
4. Add in tomato paste.
5. Add in egg noodles, cook until tender.
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Variations:
You can use a beef soup bone for flavor if you'd rather not have the meat or just want a little bit of meat. Just simmer for couple of hours and remove before adding vegetables. You can also use rice or barley in place of egg noodles.

ENJOY!!

Pea Soup

This is another family recipe from as long as I can remember. One of my favorites!
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Ingredients needed:
1 bag dried peas
1 ham bone(shank)
onion salt
pepper
Lawry’s season salt
10 cups water

1. Mix all ingredients in crockpot. Season to your tastes.
2. Cook on high for at least 6 hours. Make sure peas are soft.
3. Remove ham bone from soup, let cool off, then pick off meat and add back into soup.
4. Serve with any type of bread or cracker.
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Variations:
My grama likes to add diced carrots and cooked shell noodles, I prefer it the way it is written.
Both my grama and my mother make this on the stove. I prefer the crockpot cause you can throw it in and forget about it, but if you have time to cook it on the stove and watch it, it will cook faster.

ENJOY!!

Navy Bean Soup

This is a soup my Mom and Grama both make alot. I grew up eating it and have very fond memories. My Mom and Grama like to add drop dumplings to it, I don't care for those, so I eat mine just the way it is.
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Ingredients needed:
1 bag dried navy beans
1 ham bone(shank)
onion salt
pepper
Lawry’s season salt
10 cups water

1. Mix all ingredients in crockpot. Season to your tastes.
2. Cook for at least 6 hours.
3. Remove ham bone from soup, let cool off, then pick off meat and add back into soup.
4. Serve with any type of bread or cracker.

** May add dumplings or egg noodles if desired.

ENJOY!!

Cream of Potato Soup

This is a recipe I found on the web that is supposed to emulate Outback's potato soup. It comes close! Hope you enjoy as much as I do.
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Ingredients Needed:
2 pounds potatoes, boiled and diced
3 cans chicken broth(16 ounce)
1 medium onion, diced
2 cups water
white sauce(see recipe below)
salt & pepper
bacon crumbles
cheddar cheese
chives

1. Boil potatoes until tender, drain and set aside.
2. In a large kettle, bring chicken broth, water, onion and seasoning to a boil.
3. Slowly stir in white sauce.
4. Add potatoes.
5. Heat until warm, about 10 minutes.
6. Serve garnished with bacon crumbles, cheese and chives.

White Sauce
1 1/2 sticks butter
3/4 cup flour
1 1/2 cups heavy cream

1. Melt butter in pan.
2. Stir in flour and cook for about two minutes.
3. Add in heavy cream slowly to reduce lumping.

ENJOY!!

Chicken Noodle Soup

Now that fall has arrived, I figured I'd post a soup recipe. This is a recipe I made up myself through experimentation trying to emulate the broth that Noodles has, it is as close as I can come since their recipe is a secret! This is also one of those recipes that I typically don't measure, I just throw in a dash of this and a handful of that, so, feel free to experiment yourself!
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Ingredients needed:
1/2 medium onion, thinly sliced
3 small carrots, thinly sliced
2 stalks celery, thinly diced
2 sprigs fresh thyme
2 sprigs flat-leaf parsley
8 cups chicken broth, homemade or low-sodium canned
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/3 pound egg noodles (preferably wide ones)
1 cup cubed cooked chicken (meat from about 1 breast)
1 tablespoon whole flat-leaf parsley leaves, for garnish

1. Put the onion, carrots, celery, thyme, parsley, chicken broth, and water in a medium pot.
2. Season with salt and pepper, to taste, and bring to a simmer over medium high heat.
3. Simmer until the vegetables are almost tender, about 10 minutes.
4. Add the noodles and cook until tender, 5 to 8 minutes (depending upon the size of the noodles).

5. Add the chicken, warm through, and then adjust the seasoning, if necessary, with salt and pepper.
6. Serve garnished with parsley.
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Variations:
If you don't have fresh herbs, dried will work. I also usually add potatoes(most people wouldn't), but I love spuds and it tastes good to me! You can also use dark meat, I just prefer white meat. You could also substitute turkey in place of the chicken. Feel free to experiment with herbs.

ENJOY!!