Homemade Cream of Tomato Soup Recipe: A few weeks ago I just didn’t feel like cooking…..but, we have a pact at our house, if it is your day off, you cook.  I had about a pound of frozen whole cherry tomatoes in the freezer, so I decided to make a pot of homemade cream of tomato soup, and to go with it, homemade pimento cheese sandwiches.   NEITHER was a disappointment!  They were both really easy and went together without a whole lot of ingredients or too much work.    

Ingredients for Homemade Cream of Tomato Soup:

• 1 pound whole cherry tomatoes.  If using larger tomatoes, simply quarter them.
• ½ t salt
• 1 t pepper
• 2 cups chicken broth or stock
• 1/4 chopped fresh basil (save some tops for garnish)
• 1 t chopped garlic (I used jarlic, and used about a tablespoon, but we like garlic
• A couple of dashes of your favorite hot sauce (optional)
• 1/3 to ½ cup heavy cream

Directions for Homemade Cream of Tomato Soup :

1. In a sauce pan, pour enough olive oil to cover the bottom of the pan, add your tomatoes, salt, pepper, garlic and hot sauce if using.   Also added some Tony Chachere’s, but, you can leave that out. 
2. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes to an hour, until your tomatoes start to fall apart, adding chicken broth or stock, as it cooks.  Let cool. 
3. Process in a food processor.  Mine is small, so I did this in two batches, adding about half of the basil, to each batch.  Process until smooth.  I think each batch took about a minute, and I scraped the sides down once or twice with each batch. 
4. Return to the pot, add heavy cream, and hot sauce as well as the remaining chopped basil. Serve warm.   You can add an additional drizzle of cream before serving, and top with a basil sprig for presentation.

Ingredients for Pimento Cheese Sandwiches:

• 4 oz.  sharp cheddar cheese
• 4 oz.  monterrey jack, pepper jack, or regular cheddar cheese
•   *****DO  NOT USE PACKAGED SHREDDED CHEESE******IT WILL NOT WORK*******
• 8 oz. cream cheese softened
• ½ cup mayonnaise
• 4 oz chopped pimento peppers, drained
• 1 tablespoon ( or more—or less—or skip it if you don’t like them) chopped jalapeno pepper, or you could also use hatch peppers if they are in season
• ½ t garlic powder
• Salt and pepper to taste.

Directions for Pimento Cheese Sandwiches:

1. In a large mixing bowl, stir cheeses, mayonnaise, garlic powder, and salt and pepper, until well mixed.  
2. Add drained pimentos and other peppers if using. 
3. THAT’S IT!  You can assemble your sandwiches and cook them in a pan with a little butter for a super creamy and delicious grilled pimento cheese sandwich!

Check out more recipes from Arcola Feed’s blog here. You’ll find casseroles, soups, desserts, appetizers and everything in between! We’re foodies here at Arcola Feed.