Here’s the deal – I’m a soup fiend. My perfect weekday lunch is a big bowl of soup and some oyster crackers to munch along side of it. If I’m feeling sassy I’ll go half soup, half sandwich. Most times though, just the soup will do. So you can imagine my thrill when it was announced that February is #souplove!
Here’s the thing though, I’m lazy, I buy my soups. I’ve written before about how certain soup places have all these great soups but they end up being calorie bombs. Granted at this point, I’ve finally figured out which ones are good to go and which ones to avoid.
Can you guess where I’m going with this? I actually bet you can’t – okay only partially. Yes this is a recreation of one of my favorite soups, but not because it’s bad for me, because I never know when it is on the menu!
This soup is a lovely creamy tomato base, simple but satisfying but every spoonful or so you end up with a sharp bite of feta cheese. I love that the feta doesn’t melt like other cheeses and the big clumps stay put no matter how hot the soup.
Feel free to swap out the chicken stock for vegetable stock for a vegetarian version.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 4 cups chicken stock
- 1 28oz can + 1 14.5oz can whole peeled tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon za'atar
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 1 cup crumbled feta cheese, plus extra for serving
Instructions
- In a dutch oven or stock pot over medium heat, sauté the onions with tablespoon of butter until soft and translucent, about 5-7 minutes.
- Stir in the garlic and cook for 30 seconds.
- Pour in the chicken stock and both cans of tomatoes with their juices. Season with the kosher salt, black pepper, za'atar and red pepper flakes.
- Break up the whole tomatoes with the base of your wooden spoon and bring to a low boil (about 20 minutes.)
- Remove from the heat and either using an immersion blender or in batches with a blender, puree until smooth.
- Place the pureed soup back into the pot over medium heat and bring back to a simmer. Turn off the heat and stir in the heavy cream.
- Taste and adjust seasoning as necessary.
- Mix in the crumbled feta cheese.
- Serve with crackers, a salad or grilled cheese and extra feta on top of the soup.
February is #souplove month!
Please join in on the #souplove fun by linking up any nut recipe from the month of February 2013. Don’t forget to link back to this post, so that your readers know to come stop by the #souplove event! The twitter hashtag is #souplove
Be sure to say hi to my fellow hosts and see what they’ve cooked up this month!
Helena @ Rico Sin Azucar | @ricosinazucar
Jennifer @ Leave No Scone Unturned | @Foodie2Choux
Serena @ Teaspoon of Spice | @tspcurry
Kimberly @ Badger Girl Learns To Cook |@Bdgergrl
Jackie @ Vegan Yack Attack | @Veganyackattack
T.R. @ No One Likes Crumbly Cookies | @TRCrumbley
Yum! This soup looks great. I’m such a sucker for tomato soups. Happy Souplove!
Yum, fantastic, Susan! I love feta cheese in this tomato soup (beautiful contrast of colors)
Happy #souplove month 😉
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I love soup, but never made tomato soup. I love that this recipe isn’t overly creamy. I’m pinning this one. Sending lots of #souplove your way.
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