Basil Tomato-Rice Soup

Submitted by ratherbeswimmin

"500 Best Comfort Food Recipes, by Johanna Burkhard"

 

• Ready In: 1hr 10mins
• Ingredients: 12
• Serves: 6

ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon dried basil leaves
• 1 (28 ounce) can plum tomatoes, including juice
• 6 cups chicken stock or 6 cups vegetable stock
• 1⁄2 cup long-grain white rice
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• salt
• fresh ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

directions

1. In a soup pot, heat oil over medium heat.
2. Add in onion, celery, garlic, and basil; cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until softened.
3. In a food processor, puree tomatoes with juice; add to pot with stock and rice; season with sugar, salt, and pepper to taste.
4. Bring to a boil; decrease heat, cover and simmer for 30-35 minutes or until rice is tender.
5. Stir in parsley.
6. **To make a creamy soup, add 1/2 cup whipping cream along with the parsley.
7. **If you have fresh basil, substitute 2 tablespoons of the chopped fresh basil for the dried basil and add along with the parsley.

Reviews

[Chef MB]

This was an easy, quick and delicious soup! Since I had some leftover rice, I simmered the soup then used my stick blender to make it smooth. Then I stirred in the rice. Delicious! Will make a great base to take in other directions--I could see easily giving it a Mexican or Greek twist. Oh, and I made with veggie stock, to accommodate the vegetarian in the house.

 

[LGFoodie]

I used two cans of tomatoes, one crushed. I did not use dried basil because I didn't have any. I cooked the veggies as directed, then added the tomatoes and cooked till tender. Then I used an immersion blender, not a food processor. Then I added 3/4 cup medium grain rice because that was the only white rice I had. It did not seem like enough so I ended up putting in about 1/2 cup more. The rice cooked quickly even though I was cooking on low. I set the timer to remind me to stir every ten minutes so the rice wouldn't stick. At the end I added about 1/2 to 3/4 c. Cream and adjusted the salt. YUM