Tomato Orzo Soup

Summary

Yield
Servings
Source

A family favorite

Prep time30 minutes
Recipe TypesVegetarian

Description

This one is not for guests but for my hard-working comrades.  A grown-up version of a childhood comfort staple.  Serve with a grilled cheese sandwich on multigrain bread and you've got yourself a healthy, vegetarian lunch (NOW GO LOCK THE FRONT DOOR AND CHOW DOWN BEFORE YOUR EARLY CHECK-INS SHOW UP)!!

Ingredients

2tolive oil
1⁄2 large onion (white or yellow), diced
2 celery stalks
1⁄2cdiced carrots
2clvgarlic, minced
28ozcan peeled, cut roma tomatoes
28ozcan crushed tomatoes
4cvegetable stock
2 whole roasted red peppers, diced (homemade or jarred)
8ozorzo pasta
1clight for low fat cream

Instructions

In a large soup pot heat olive oil over medium heat and sautee onion, celery and carrots for 6 minutes or until soft.  Add garlic and cook an additional 2 minutes.

Add Roma tomatoes (including liquid) and crushed tomatoes.  Simmer 10 minutes, then add vegetable stock.  Return to simmer, then season with salt and pepper to taste.

Add diced roasted red peppers and orzo pasta.  Simmer 8 to 10 minutes or until pasta is tender.  Remove soup from heat.

Pour cream into a soup bowl and ladle a few spoonfuls of soup into it (this will temper the cream and prevent curdling).  Add the tempered cream slowly to the pot of soup, stirring gently.

Add fresh or dried basil to taste.

 

Notes

If you prefer a creamier style tomato soup, use an immersion blender to puree the onions, carrots, celery, and tomatoes in the pot prior to adding in the red pepper...you can also puree the red peppers if you like but if you leave them diced they add a nice little bit of texture and flavor to the soup!

Offline
Joined:
08/04/2008

This is lunch for today! Thanks!

GeorgiaGirl's picture
Offline
Joined:
06/09/2008

This sounds really good!  I hate buying too many canned soups since they have so many bad ingredients that I would like to stay away from.

Don Draper's picture
Offline
Joined:
08/10/2008

 It is SO tasty!  Very little sodium so it's better for you, and the light cream adds just a little bit of fat but you also get protein and the satisfaction of the creaminess!  We had this for dinner last night, perfect on a rainy evening.  It freezes very well too.

Comment viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.