Another pot of soup. Another cookbook down. Another entry for Branny’s Charity Souper Bowl.

This was from a Longaberger cookbook I got at my bridal shower.  It’s a beautiful book with a lot of down-to-earth but not too simple recipes. I had put off trying this book because I was afraid they wouldn’t be that good – after all, Longaberger is known for their baskets, not cooking. This recipes was great, though. It is one of the best soups I’ve ever made.

It also gives me the opportunity to plug the Charity Souper Bowl hosted by Branny Boils Over again. For every soup recipe she gets, $1 will be donated to the ASPCA. It goes to help cute little guys, like this one:

That’s Rocky, our other cat. We adopted him the same time we adopted Kali. They’re best buds and they make our house so much more fun. Thanks again, Branny, for supporting such a great cause!

Creamy Tomato Basil Soup
(from Longaberger’s Fresh From the Pantry: Recipes for Every Day)
Serves 6

1 1/2 c. chopped yellow onions
1 T. minced garlic
2 T. olive oil
1 28 oz. can peeled, whole plum tomatoes
4 c. chicken stock
1 t. dried marjoram
1 t. dried basil
1 t. dried oregano
salt and pepper, to taste
1/2 c. heavy cream
1 c. fresh basil, chopped
1/4 c. fresh parsley, chopped

In a dutch oven, saute the onions and garlic in the olive oil until transparent. Stir in the tomatoes, stock, dried herbs, salt and pepper. Simmer for 45 minutes.

In a blender, puree in small batches until smooth and then return to dutch oven. (To do this, I dumped all of the soup into a large, glass batter bowl and then poured it into the blender in 2-3 c. batches.)

Stir in the cream, fresh basil and fresh parsley.