Cream of Tomato Soup

I have been on the hunt for some yummy tomato soup recipes for a while.  I’ve been looking for three basic homemade tomato soup recipes.  I want one using fresh tomatoes for the Summer when I grow them in my garden, another one that is quick and easy, and one that is that yummy tomato basil type that I enjoy at many restaurants.
So up until this point, I have not been able to find one that was good enough to replace a good old can of Campbell’s soup.  Then I came across a version at Smith Bites, who got the original from the Food Network.  I researched it on Food Network and found that it came from Joanne Lamb Hayes on Cooking Live, if that is anything you follow.  It’s not a show that I am familiar with.
While I was looking around at the Food Network’s site, I came across a grilled cheese sandwich recipe to pair with this soup.  That recipe will come in tomorrows post.
Now as far as the soup goes, I decided to use 1 cup of cream and two cups of skim milk.  I now think it would have been just fine, maybe even better with milk only.  I also was hoping for a little more of a tomato flavor than what this produced.  I think this could be achieve by reducing the milk to 2 cups next time.  So, I recommended starting with 2 cups and then adjust according to your tastes.  I also used the tomato juice for this soup and think you could get more flavor by using the V-8, so next time I am trying the V-8.
Even with these few issues the soup was still really good.   My oldest son never eats the tomato soup from a can with us, but he enjoyed this one. Both my husband and him also tried the last of their soup with a little Italian seasoning added and they really liked it with that addition too.

Cream of Tomato Soup

• 1/3 cup butter
• 1/4 cup flour
• 3 cups tomato juice or V-8
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 2-3 cups milk
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• saltine crackers or oyster crackers (I prefer the oyster crackers because they stay crisp longer)

1. In a large sauce pan, melt the butter over medium heat.  Then whisk in the flour until smooth.
2. Add the tomato juice or V-8 and stir until it thickens.
3. Next whisk in the soda  followed by 2 cups of milk, sugar and salt. Cook until heated though. Taste the soup at this point and if you like it creamier, add the additional cup of milk.  Divide into 4 bowls and serve with crackers.