Fresh garden tomatoes join Italian Sausage and Parmesan Cheese for this Creamy Tomato Basil Soup. Hearty, the whole family will love this recipe.
And with some Italian sausage thrown in, you’ve got one delicious soup. As you can see by the photo above, my Early Girl tomato plant is throwing a late harvest party. And the tomatoes are so sweet and wonderful, I’m in tomato heaven right now. And they made this fresh soup a very special treat.
Yesterday morning started off cool, foggy and absolutely gorgeous. Our first day that truly felt like Fall. Inspired by my morning walk along Dad Clark’s Gulch…soup’s on! This is our new walking “digs” accessible from the new house. Soon the scrub oak, grasses and towering cottonwood trees will turn to brilliant Fall colors…my favorite time of year. One thing I love about Highlands Ranch is the fact that they leave our open spaces in natural habitat. Even though I’m sure there’s a Rattlesnake or a pack of wild Coyotes hiding in all that fauna I still prefer it’s beauty over manicured grass. Actually years ago, and before we lived here, we watched a badger high-tail it out of this gulch.
Our high dessert climate has been blessed with lots of rain this season. My basil plant has been putting such a show that I’ve nick-named it Bazilla. And I can’t count how many times I’ve chopped on it to save the fresh Parsley that’s in it’s shadow. And look at the poor little Rosemary plant next to it. It obviously didn’t take a liking to our wet season. Planted at the same time in May, it should be times that size.
And an update on the move. I’m proud to announce that after twelve days we can now park both cars in the garage, which was once a sea of boxes. My new mantra; my feet hurt, my legs hurt, my back hurts and my arms hurt. 🙂
Back to this wonderful soup. Fresh sweet tomatoes, fresh basil, carrots, celery, onions, made creamy with a roux and Parmesan, this came together as one of our all time favorites. We’re enjoying the bounty of our late Colorado growing season.
Creamy Tomato, Basil, Parmesan Soup
Ingredients
- 1/8 cup olive oil
- 4 medium tomatoes diced (or two cans, undrained)
- 1 1/2 cup celery fine diced
- 1 1/2 cup carrot fine diced
- 1 bunch green onion chopped
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 4 tablespoons fresh basil chopped (or 1 tablespoon dried)
- 1 bay leaf
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1/4 cup butter
- 2 cups milk or half and half
- 1 cup parmesan cheese freshly grated
- 1/2 pound Italian Sausage browned
- Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat the oil in large soup pot. Add celery, carrots and onion. Saute 5 minutes. Add basil, oregano, bay leaf, tomatoes, and chicken broth. Bring it to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes
- While the soup simmers, prepare a roux. Melt butter over low heat, add flour and cook, stirring constantly, 5-7 minutes. Slowly stir in 3 cup hot soup and stir until smooth. Add the mixture back into soup pot.
- Simmer and stir until soup begins to thicken. Add Parmesan cheese and whisk to blend. Stir warmed milk, salt and pepper, and Italian Sausage. Simmer over low heat for 5 minutes.
Nutrition
Creamy Tomato Basil Parmesan Soup…It’s what’s for Dinner.
