Sunday, January 29, 2017

Creamy Italian Tomato Soup


When I'm working on a project, I often like the comfort of television playing in the background. In cases such as this, I tend to turn on programs that I've already seen before, so I don't have to concentrate on what's happening, I can just enjoy it peripherally.

The other night I was watching The Big Bang Theory, an episode called, The Intimacy Acceleration (Season 8, Episode 16). In this episode, among other sub plots, Sheldon and Penny spend the evening performing an experiment to see whether people can fall in love in a few hours. Part of their conversation went like this.

Penny: Do you want to stop? I know you have trouble with eye contact.
Sheldon: Well, you have a brown fleck in your right iris that looks like a Formula 1 racecar, so I'm just concentrating on that. Plus it's easier around people I'm comfortable with.
Penny: Oh, sweetie, I'm comfortable around you, too.
Sheldon: Of course you are. I'm warm and soothing. I'm like a human bowl of tomato soup.

Huh, I thought. Tomato Soup really is warm and soothing. In this case, what would be more soothing for a meal on “Soup Some Soup Sunday” than a heartier, most satisfying version, and that led me to this recipe online. Talk about hearty comfort in a bowl! This is certainly it.
Creamy Italian Tomato Soup
Adapted from insidebrucrewlife.com

1 pound ground Italian Sausage
1 cup diced yellow onion
1/2 cup diced green pepper
1 clove garlic, minced
1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
4 cups chicken broth (or homemade stock)
2 cups water
8 ounces uncooked rotini pasta
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon dry basil
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup shredded Italian cheese mix
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Place the ground sausage into a medium stock pot and cook until done. Drain any excess grease that remains in the bottom of the pan.

Stir the onion, peppers, and garlic into the sausage and cook for 3-4 minutes or until vegetables begin to soften.

Pour in the tomatoes, broth, and water; bring to a boil.

Add the pasta and bring the mixture back to a boil. Keep the soup at a low boil for the amount of time indicated on the pasta box (in my case 11 minutes). Add the heavy cream, basil, and cheeses, and stir until all is melted and incorporated. Season the mixture to taste with salt and pepper. Simmer on low until ready to eat. 

Top as desired. Serves 6.


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8 comments:

Linda said...

I've not seen a recipe quite like this and can't wait to try it. We love tomato-ey soups, but sometimes they give us heartburn, so I think the cream in this will help with that, plus the addition of meat - yum!

jmac said...

You crack me up!!! I don't care how you come up with your recipes...just keep on bringing them!!

GranthamLynn said...

Oh you may have converted me. I've never been a fan of tomato soup. Maybe it was Campbell's that did that. HeHe. But this looks and sounds so yummy!
I hope you'll link and share the love over at The Fabulous Be My Valentine Party!
Come over and bring the soup!
Here's this weeks link:
http://ourholidayjourney.blogspot.com/2017/01/fabulous-be-my-valentine-link-party.html
Um Um Good!

Charlene said...

Yum this looks amazing. I might make this for dinner one of these nights this week. Pinning for later. I hope to see you link up with us at Family Joy Blog Link Up Party this week. Check us out http://thinking-outside-the-pot.com/?p=3310

Sandra Lee said...

Tomato soup is one of my favorites! when I'm working in my downstairs kitchen I always have one of my favorite movies playing. Thank you for sharing with us this week at Celebrate Your Story, have a great weekend.

The Lazy Gastronome said...

Sounds great! Thanks for sharing on the What's for Dinner link up!

Unknown said...

Pinned! This sounds amazing!! :)

I would love for you to share this with my Facebook Group for recipes, crafts, tips, and tricks: https://www.facebook.com/groups/pluckyrecipescraftstips/

Thanks for joining Cooking and Crafting with J & J!

kitty@ Kitty's Kozy Kitchen said...

This one sounds really good, too! I like the addition of the sausage for the protein.