Chunky Cream of Tomato with Bacon Soup

It is still so cold here, the high today was 7 degrees. Beautiful, bright sunny days are so deceiving because no matter how you dress, the bitter cold wind just cuts through every layer. I usually enjoy winter, I love the solitude and the quiet a new snow brings. With no bugs nor heat to bother us, hiking in the woods with my dogs is so much fun. But this year, it's just too darn cold to do much outside! So I am making body-warming comfort meals and with no warming trend predicted any time soon, it appears as if I will be making them for sometime!

I saw a similar tomato soup being made on one of the Foodnetwork programs and it looked so good. So I whipped up a batch for my own taste and what I had on hand. It was a huge hit and Mr. Tastebuds loved it!

Instead of crackers, I served it with some of my Fennel Seed Breadsticks. The breadsticks were delicious dunked into the chunky tomato goodness.





Chunky Cream of Tomato with Bacon Soup
Recipe developed by Big-Black-Dog

3 pts of my home-canned tomatoes from my garden
2 TBL EVOO
3 garlic cloves, I used fresh Simonetti Garlic
5-6 green onions including stem, chopped into 1/4" pieces
1 tsp dried thyme leaves
1-2 TBL dried basil leaves
1 tsp tarragon
2 strips smoked bacon, fried crisp and finely diced
5-6 sun-dried tomatoes, finely diced
3/4 cup heavy cream
2 cups chicken broth
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Garnish with minced fresh parsley

Pour 2 TBL EVOO in a heavy-bottomed, non-aluminum pan on low heat. Add the peeled, whole garlic cloves and saute until the cloves are just golden brown. Remove the garlic to a cutting board and mash the soft garlic with a fork. Turn the burner up to medium and add the minced bacon. Return the mashed garlic to the pan and add the tomatoes, Thyme, Basil, Tarragon and dried tomatoes, stir. Add the chicken broth and heat through. Add the green onions and heavy cream and stir slightly and heat through. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Garnish each bowl with minced parsley. Serve hot.


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