Creamy Tomato Basil Soup Deluxe!

I am waaaay too excited for fall. It has been in the high 80's here until... Wednesday, when the temp dropped to the low 70's and it rained all day long. I was so excited that I made "Veggie Chow-da".


With my excitement out of control - I also got a serving of pureed sun dried tomatoes and a serving of pesto out of the freezer and into the fridge just so I could make this soup. Even though the weather returned to the high 80's the next day - this was so delicious!


I posted this recipe for Creamy Tomato Basil Soup a while ago. I varied the recipe from the original this time. I wanted to add a few more layers of flavor to give the soup a bit more depth and subtle notes of flavor (woot! listen to me talkin about food - I think I'm so cool - LOL)

I swear that I posted my 'gourmet cheats' but after looking through the blog - I couldn't find it. I'll post it again and it will help this recipe make more sense to you.

Creamy Tomato Basil Soup Deluxe!

1/2 c (1 stick) butter

1 c all purpose flour

4 c chicken broth

4 c half & half*

1 1/2 c marinara sauce

1 14.5 can diced tomatoes or 8 to 10 small vine ripened tomatoes, diced

1 c sundried tomatoes, pureed

1/2 c prepared pesto

Coarse salt and ground black pepper

Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the flour and stir for 5 minutes to slightly brown the mixture and create a roux. Wisk in the broth. Increase the heat and cook and stir until thickened. Decrease the heat to low, stir in the half and half and simmer for 20 minutes.Stir in the marinara sauce, tomatoes, sundried tomatoes and pesto and cook until heated through. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

*I have used both full fat and fat free half & half - since it is used as a thickening agent, the taste is nearly the same using either.