Tasty Soup Recipe

I came across this soup recipe on Pinterest and thought I would give it a shot.  So yesterday, as the wind was howling and the snow was blowing I got myself together and tried this tasty soup recipe.  And let me tell you it did not disappoint!

Here is the picture as it appeared on Pinterest...

 

Because I was so hungry Babycakes was ready to eat, I didn't take a picture of the finished product but I can assure you the Pinterest picture is pretty accurate.

Because I'm such a visual person I thought I would walk you through this fairly easy recipe.  The most difficult time consuming part was chopping up all of the veggies for this soup.

Begin with 2 (14 ounce) cans of diced tomatoes (I used Hunt's fire roasted tomatoes with garlic)

 

Next you will need 1 cup of finely chopped celery.

 

One cup finely chopped carrots...

...and one cup finely chopped onion.

Next you will need 1 teaspoon dried oregano, 1 tablespoon of dried basil and 1 bay leaf (You can use fresh herbs but who has time to grow their own herbs these days?  Not this girl!)

(As a side note, don't you just LOVE the milk glass spice containers? They were my Mom's that she used in the kitchen when I was growing up)  Anywho, you will also need 4 cups of chicken broth.  I used 4 cups of water with bouillon cubes because that's what I had on hand.)

Dump everything into your Crock-Pot and stir.  This is so easy a child could do it.  Seriously!

Now, cover and cook on LOW for 5 to 7 hours.  I chose 6 since it was between 5 and 7.

After the time is up, about 45 minutes before you want to eat you'll need to start this next part.

Prepare a roux (Don't let this freak you out!  It's just French for butter and flour.  I promise!)  Melt 1/2 a cup of butter over low heat in a large skillet.  Then, whisk in 1/2 cup of flour a little at a time trying to keep lumps at a minimum. 

The recipe said to stir constantly with a whisk for 5 to 7 minutes.  I stirred constantly until it started to bubble.  Then you need to gradually stir in 1 cup of the soup from the crock pot.  Then add another 3 cups and stir until smooth.  Then dump it all back into the Crock Pot.  Add 1 cup of Parmesan cheese, 2 cups of warmed half and half, 1 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper.  Cook on low another 30 minutes.

I don't know that I would cook this as a "quick meal"  but it is some kind of yum!  I was going to serve it with bread that I whipped up in my bread machine but due to user error we improvised with sandwich rounds that were toasted in the oven with some cheddar cheese.

A Pinterest success perfect for a snowy evening!