Cooking - Tomato Basil Soup

I made this soup on Sunday night.  We finally have some cooler weather on a regular basis here in Houston (I'm talking like 40-55 in the morning and 70-75 in the afternoon).  This was a super easy soup - I made it the "not fresh ingredient way"  listed below.  Sorry no photos for this post. I've been kinda busy and crazy lately!

Recipe:  Tomato Basil Soup

From:  Betty Crocker (The Betty Crocker Cookbook - Bridal Edition; page 437)

Ingredients - "the fresh ingredient way"

2 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil

2 medium carrots, finely chopped  (1/2 cup)

1 small onion onion, finely chopped (1/2 cup)

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

6 large tomatoes, peeled/seeded/chopped (6 cups)

1 can (8 oz) tomato paste

1/4 cup thinly sliced fresh basil leaves

1/2 teaspoon sugar 

1/4 teaspoon salt

Dash of pepper

pepper

Ingredients - the "not-fresh ingredients way"

2 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil

1/2 cup frozen chopped carrots (rinsed and drained)

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1/2 cup onion, finely chopped (could use frozen or pre-diced package)

3 cans (14.5 oz each) diced tomatoes, undrained

1 can (8 oz) tomato paste

2 teaspoons dried basil leaves

1 teaspoon sugar 

(no salt if using canned tomatoes)

Dash of pepper

Directions:

1. In 3-quart saucepan, heat oil over medium heat.  Cook carrots, onion, and garlic in oil about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally until tender but not browned.  (Mine did not take 10 minutes, more like a few minutes - watch your heat.)

2. Stir in tomatoes.  Cook uncovered about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until heated through.

3. Stir in remaining ingredients.  Cook uncovered about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until hot. 

Yield: 4 servings

Notes:  Lockstep thought some Italian sausage seasoned with basil would be good in this soup.  

Store leftovers in small (2-cup) containers for easy re-heating.  Soups tend to thicken in the fridge, so dilute with water if you want the leftover soup to be soup-y instead of stew-y.