Crock Pot Creamy Tomato Soup

Source: skinny taste

Time: 10 minute prep the night before, 10 minute prep the morning of, 6+ hours cook time, 20 minutes prep after cooking
Servings: Makes about 10 cups, ~ 6 servings

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 cup finely diced celery
• 1 cup finely diced carrots
• 1 cup finely diced onions
• 28 oz can whole plum tomatoes, with juice
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1/4 cup fresh basil
• 3 1/2 cups reduced sodium chicken broth
• Parmesan or Romano cheese rind
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1/3 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese
• 1 3/4 cups reduced fat (2%) milk, warmed
• salt, to taste
• black pepper, to taste

Directions: 

1. Heat large skillet over medium heat, add oil, celery, carrots and onions. Cook 5 minutes until golden. Add to slow cooker. 

2. Pour juice of tomatoes into the slow cooker, then roughly crush the tomatoes with your hands (be careful of splatter!), add to slow cooker. Then add broth, cheese rind, thyme, basil and bay leaf. 

3. Cook on LOW for at least 6 hours. Mine cooked for about 7 hours, then stayed on warm for an additional 3-4 hours maybe. 

4. After cooking, remove cheese rind and bay leaf. Using an immersion blender or blender, blend the soup until smooth. If using a blender be sure to do this in SMALL batches, otherwise you'll have soup on your cabinets and floors. 

5. Melt butter over low heat and add flour. Stir constantly with whisk for 4-5 minutes. Slowly whisk in about 1 cup of the hot soup, then add the warm milk and stir until smooth. 

6. Pour back butter, flour, milk mixture into the slow cooker with soup and stir. Add grated pecorino cheese and season liberally with salt and pepper. 

7. Cover and cook on low 30 more minutes or until warm. 

Verdict: 

This soup was really good. It tasted very creamy and richer than it actually is. Allison really enjoyed it as well. Bonus is it's pretty healthy. Isaac didn't touch it, but he didn't touch any of his other dinner that night either, so his vote doesn't really count. 

Servings: 6 • Size: 1-1/2 cups
Calories: 177 • Fat: 10 g • Carb: 17 g • Fiber: 3 g • Protein: 8 g • Sugar: 8 g
Sodium: 600 mg • Cholest: 21 mg