Huntress of the Northwest: Hearty Tomato Parmesan Bisque

I love a good soup during the winter... heck- all year round! (I'm sure you have caught on by now. hehe)

For tonight's dinner I decided to make this Hearty Tomato Parmesan Bisque, along with Italian herb and bread crumb crusted cod and a hearty loaded baked potato. FULFILLING! This mama-to-be has been so hungry lately and this meal did just the trick.

INGREDIENTS:

1 can fire roasted diced tomatoes
1 can Italian herbed diced tomatoes
2 stalks of celery, chopped
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
1/2 to 1 cup of shredded Parmesan cheese (depends on how cheesy you want your soup to be)
5 Tablespoons of butter
2 cups of chicken stock
salt and pepper to taste

In a large soup pot cook the celery, onion and minced garlic in the butter. When the veggies are tender, add the chicken stock. Next, add the two cans of tomatoes- do not drain! You want all of the good juices!

Simmer all the ingredients until the tomatoes start to break down and the celery is tender.

(About 10-15 minutes)

Add the Parmesan cheese to the mixture and give it a good stir...

Then place the entire pot of soup into a food processor or blender. (You may have to do it in batches if you doubled the recipe) Puree the soup and return it to the soup pot. Add salt and pepper to taste... I should have checked my soup before adding more salt- it didn't even need it, so it ended up a little salty. If you do make the mistake of adding too much salt, or garlic, add a little cream during blending to neutralize it.