Creamy Tomato and Summer Herb Soup

Lainey6605's Note:

This creamy tomato and summer herb soup takes less than 25 minutes to prepare and can be served hot or cold. I prefer it hot. It is bursting with flavor and contains a full serving of vegetables in each bowl. Tarragon is the herb of choice in this version of the recipe, but chopped basil or even mint would work, too. While some creamy soups are made with heavy cream or sour cream, this one gets a rich, tangy flavor from a modest amount of reduced-fat sour cream. If you like, you can use low-fat plain yogurt instead. The soup is best when made with ripe tomatoes, but a 28-ounce can of diced tomatoes with their juices can be substituted in a pinch. For a complete light meal, serve this soup with a salad and a few slices of grilled whole-grain baguette.

• Total Time: 25 mins
• Prep Time: 0 mins
• Cook Time: 25 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 medium sweet onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
• 4 large ripe tomatoes, diced (about 4 cups)
• 3/4 cup water
• 1/3 cup reduced-fat sour cream
• 1 tablespoon fresh tarragon, chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• fresh ground black pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. In medium saucepan, heat the oil over medium.
2. Add the onion and saute until softened, about 4 minutes.
3. Add the tomatoes and water, then bring to a boil.
4. Reduce heat and simmer until the vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes.
5. Transfer the soup to a food processor or blender and puree until smooth, in batches, if necessary (use caution when blending hot liquids).
6. Set a strainer over the saucepan.
7. Pour the puree through the strainer, pressing on the solids with a wooden spoon or spatula to extract as much of the pulp as possible; discard the seeds and skin.
8. Whisk the sour cream and tarragon into the soup.
9. Stir over low heat until the soup is hot, but not boiling.
10. Season with salt and pepper.

Reviews

[Brooke the Cook in WI]

What a wonderful and healthful way to use up an overabundance of tomatoes! I doubled this and it served three as a main dish - used fresh basil instead of the tarragon and really loved the refreshing taste. I didn't have much success using the strainer, too much of the good stuff wasn't getting through. My food processor does a pretty good job getting everything blended up so I won't bother with the strainer next time - makes it even easier to prepare! Made for Newest Zaar tag.

[Boomette]

This soup is a little bit bland. And usually I don't use salt. But I had to add salt. I also added dried oregano. I stirred in half and half cream and topped with fresh basil. It was yummy. Great texture after putting in the strainer. Thanks Lainey :) Made for ZWT8 for Diners, Winers and Chives

[Kerry G]

I made this b/c I was in search of a recipe to mimic a tomato-herb soup I'd had on vacation. This recipe was fairly easy to make and very healthy (I used greek yogurt instead of sour cream and it was 1 WW pt per serving). We didn't have a way to strain it, so it was still a little textured (that wasn't a bad thing in my book but my husband would have preferred it strained). I also used basil instead of tarragon b/c I wasn't sure if I'd like tarragon. My favorite thing about this recipe is that it wasn't sweet- most commerical tomato soups are sweet which I dislike. My only issue is that I found the soup a bit bland- so I added some garlic powder and cayenne pepper and it was much better. We served it hot (because we didn't want to wait for it to cool) but I think i will try the leftovers chilled (since it IS summer here and a bit too hot for eating hot soup). I will definitely make this again, and plan to play with different herbs and seasonings to see what I can create. Thanks for sharing this recipe.