This recipe uses fresh vine-ripened tomatoes and is a great way to utilize your bountiful tomato harvest. The tomatoes are slow roasted all day in your slow-cooker, making a sweet and tangy soup with a velvety flavor. Serve it with some Cheater Grilled Cheese for dipping.
Slow Cooker Tomato Soup
yield: a little more than 3 quarts
INGREDIENTS
3 lbs vine-ripened tomatoes
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cups tomato juice
1 cup cooking sherry*
3 Tbsp granulated white sugar
1 chicken bouillon cube
2 Tbsp fresh basil, chopped
2 cups heavy cream
optional: Parmesan cheese
PREPARATION
- Wash your tomatoes and cut them in quarters. Place them in a 5-6 quart slow cooker.
- Add the onion, tomato juice, sherry, bouillon, sugar, and chopped basil. Stir.
- Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours.
- Carefully use an immersion blender to blend the tomatoes.
- Warm the heavy cream and stir into the soup.
Note: Broth can be substituted for the cooking sherry, although the flavor will be altered slightly.
Don’t Forget the Other Half!
As the name indicates this isn’t much of a recipe, just a shortcut. One benefit is that it uses less butter than traditional grilled cheese, but the main reason I like to make grilled cheese this way is it allows me to make them more quickly for a crowd. Get the sandwiches all made ahead of time and pop them on the griddle together so everyone gets a warm sandwich all at the same time.
Cheater Grilled Cheese
INGREDIENTS
2 slices of sandwich bread
butter
your cheese of choice
PREPARATION
- Lightly toast your bread.
- Lay cheese slices on one side of each piece of bread and put the bread slices together with the cheese sandwiched in the middle.
- Butter the outside of the sandwich and cook the sandwich in a skillet or griddle until the cheese has melted.
Georgia's Pampering 