Fire Roasted Tomato Soup

I love soup. Especially when it's a leftover for lunch - add some fruit and yogurt and you're pretty much set, right? Well, add a crusty roll too, and then you have a feast.

I am going to experiment and see what the major difference in flavour there is when NOT using fire roasted tomatoes (in which case, the title could be just "Tomato Soup"), but I really enjoyed the flavours of this one.

It's pretty simple, quick enough that you can either eat it for dinner the night you make it, or you can make it while you are making something else, let it simmer while you eat - and have dinner already made for the next night too.

We ate this with grilled cheese sandwiches (cheese toasties in my parents' house), and it was perfect.

Source: Adapted slightly from For the Love of Cooking

INGREDIENTS: 

• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1 sweet yellow onion, finely diced
• 2 large carrot, peeled and finely diced
• 2 celery stalks, finely diced
• 5 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 28 oz can of diced fire roasted tomatoes
• 3 1/2 cups of chicken broth (go for vege broth if you're vegetarian)
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 2 tsp sugar
• Sea salt and freshly cracked pepper
• 1/4 cup of milk (leave out for the dairy-free  - it's not 100% necessary, but does add a nice richness)

 DIRECTIONS:

1. Coat a small Dutch oven with the olive oil.
2. Add the onions, carrots, and celery then place a lid on it. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5-7 minutes or until the vegetables are tender; add the minced garlic and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute.
3. Add the can of fire roasted diced tomatoes, chicken broth, tomato paste, and sugar; season with sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste. Cover with a lid and let it simmer for 30 minutes.
4. Blend the soup using an immersion blender until creamy and smooth then pour the milk into the soup and stir until well combined. Taste and re-season with sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste, if needed.