Hearty Tomato Soup with Lemon & Rosemary

How can you go wrong with soup? I would wager that you can't... it's downright impossible. It's warming and calming and comforting... it does for your soul what a blanket and a fuzzy pair of socks do for your body. Soup is nourishing, too, usually full of stuff that's good for you and will keep you going. Plus it's a good way to stretch the food budget... add more water, and you've got more soup.

Well this right here is the stuff chicken soup for the soul is made of... in tomato soup form, of course. It's a creamy blend of wonderful tomato flavor, with a few rich elements that you may not be expecting. For instance, I bet you'd never guess that there are beans in this soup. They're in there! ...just hiding from plain view. And the savory whipped cream is certainly an unexpected detail. Have you ever had savory whipped cream? I hadn't, until this recipe. And I almost skipped it... but I'm really glad I didn't. 

No friends, don't skip the whipped cream. Yes, the soup is perfectly wonderful without it, but why not go the extra mile, just this once? With just a hint of lemon and rosemary, it really is the perfect cool complement to the warm fragrant soup. Perfect for a cool October evening... with flavor that will have you coming back to it all winter long.

Hearty Tomato Soup with Lemon and Rosemary

slightly adapted from Giada's Kitchen

yields 6-8 servings

Ingredients

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 onion, peeled and chopped

3 carrots, peeled and chopped

2 garlic cloves, chopped

one 15-ounce can cannelini beans, drained and rinsed

one 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes

3 cups chicken stock

1 bay leaf

2 teaspoons minced fresh rosemary, or 1 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

2/3 cup heavy cream

zest of 1 lemon

Directions

1. In a large soup pot, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add the onion, carrots, and garlic and cook until the vegetables are tender, about 4 minutes. Add the beans, tomatoes, stock, bay leaf, half of the rosemary, and the red pepper flakes. Bring the soup to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes, covered.

2. Puree the soup in a blender in batches (or altogether in a large bowl using an immersion blender), being careful to remove and discard the bay leaf. Return the soup to the pot and keep warm over low heat. Season with salt and pepper.

3. In a medium bowl, whip the cream to soft peaks. Fold in the lemon zest and the remaining rosemary. To serve, ladle the soup into bowls and add a dollop of lemon-rosemary whipped cream to each. Serve immediately.