Winter Tomato Soup With Crostini Food

CHUNKY TOMATO SOUP

Steps:

• In a 5-quart saucepan or Dutch oven, melt butter over medium heat; add oil and onion, and season with salt and pepper. Cook until onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in flour and tomato paste; cook 1 minute.
• To saucepan, add thyme, broth, and tomatoes, breaking up tomatoes with your fingers. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, 30 minutes. (Remove thyme sprigs before blending.)
• Using an immersion blender, puree soup in pot, leaving a fair amount of the tomatoes in chunks. Or, working in several batches, puree half (5 cups) of the soup in a conventional blender until smooth; return to pot. Season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

WINTER TOMATO SOUP

Steps:

• In a saucepan melt butter and add olive oil, onion, thyme, basil and salt and pepper.
• Cook, stirring, until onions wilt.
• Add tomatoes and tomato paste.
• Simmer 20 minutes.
• Blend together 5 T of the chicken broth with the flour.
• Add this to the soup, stir, then add rest of broth.
• Simmer 30 minutes, stirring often to prevent burning.
• Puree soup in blender.
• Return to heat.
• Add sugar and cream.
• Simmer 5 more minutes.