Best-Ever Tomato Soup

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This weekend, Mother Nature played a cruel joke on us. After a gloriously sunny and warm Easter and a hit-or-miss weather week there, she poured the snow down upon us. And now here we are. Not exactly what I had in mind for April, but I digress. As far as I'm concerned, lazy Sundays and snowy weather call for one thing; comfort food. So naturally I swung into action and here we are enjoying this absolutely amazing, best-ever Tomato Soup.

But lets step back in time,, for a minute, because I didn't just come up with this recipe on a whim. In fact, while I figured out the correct measurements for a home cooked version of this soup, I cannot take responsibility for this recipe (as much as I would like to, because it's a winner!). We have a diner that is local to us called Union Street Eatery. We tend to eat there at least once a week, which I think makes us regulars. The food is delicious and the owners and staff are really friendly, good people. So of course, we love giving them our business.

Whenever I see that their Tomato Soup is on the list of the Soups of the Day, I have no choice but to order it. This is slightly out of character for me. Although I love soups, I tend to be pretty picky about tomato soup. I often find them to be too acidic, not creamy enough or most frequently, too much like tomato sauce (which I love over pasta but not so much on its own).  That being said, the minute I tasted the Tomato Soup at Union Street Eatery, I fell hard for their version of Tomato Soup and with good reason. It is perfectly creamy without having a lip-puckering acidity that normally turns me off. The flavors are complex without being overbearing. This is comfort-food level Expert! So when one of the owners, Peter, offered to share his recipe with me, I nearly started jumping for joy and begged him to let me blog it (which he was gracious enough to agree to!).

He gave me the list of simple ingredients, all of which are items we all tend to have hanging out in our pantries. The one clincher ingredient, that really takes this from delicious to extraordinary is the chicken stock. They use Knorr Liquid Concentrate Chicken Base (to which you add water to make your chicken stock). It has the most amazing roasted chicken flavor. Seriously, you guys, I've been converted! While the soup is tasty with regular stock, the Knorr base really does take it over the top. If you can, I strongly encourage you to use it. The base also lasts a pretty long time in your fridge, so you will always have chicken stock on hand for a variety of cooking needs. It's a win/win!

It didn't make sense for me to get the measurements because they make a huge batch that's appropriate for restaurant service, though not so much for home cooking (not to mention math and I are not exactly on friendly terms, especially food math). This worked out beautifully, because I love testing out recipes and I was able to find the right mix pretty quickly.

It helps to have an immersion blender to puree this soup, but if not a food processor or blender works fine (as you can see, I linked the ones that I use and love). This also freezes beautifully if you want to freeze it for later! So drop everything you're doing and go make this soup, along with a lovely, melty grilled cheese to dip right into it and have yourself a lovely little lunch!

Best-Ever Tomato Soup

Source: Union Street Eatery

Cook Time 20 minutes active, 1 hour total.

• 3 Tbsp. of butter
• 1 large onion, diced (around a cup)
• 3 Tbsp. of flour
• 5 cups of chicken stock
• 2 28 oz. of cans of whole peeled plum tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon of thyme
• ½ teaspoon of dill
• 3 Tbsp. of heavy cream
• 1 pinch of sugar
• ½ tsp. of salt
• Pepper to taste