Tomato Soup with Bacon and Blue Cheese

I first had this soup at a church banquet.  It was creamy, flavorful, soothing, and wonderful.  I was quite surprised to learn that it had blue cheese in it since the strong flavor of the blue cheese wasn't detectable.  My husband, who dislikes blue cheese couldn't taste the cheese either.  The cheese, however, does add creaminess to the soup.  I hope you all enjoy this recipe as much as I do.  It combines four of my favorite ingredients - tomato, bacon, blue cheese, and garlic!  Enjoy!

Tomato Soup with Bacon and Blue Cheese
2 tbsp butter
1 leek (green and white parts)
1 carrot
4 cloves garlic, coarsley chopped
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
48 oz crushed tomatoes
32 oz chicken broth
5-6 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
4 oz blue cheese
6 tbsp heavy cream
6 leaves basil
1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped


Coarsely chop the carrots and leeks.

Melt butter in a stock pot or dutch oven over medium heat.  Add leeks and carrots and cook until carrots start to get tender.  Add in the garlic and cook until some of the garlic turns a light tan. 

Add the chicken stock, tomatoes, salt, pepper, and bacon.   

Bring to a boil and let simmer for 30 minutes to 1 hour.  You want to reduce the broth a little, but make sure not to reduce it too much.  I let it reduce about 1/2 inch .

Remove from heat and add the basil, parsley, cream, and blue cheese. 

Using a "boat motor," blend the soup until creamy and there are no chunks remaining in the soup.  You can also use a food processor or blender to cream the soup.  If you do this, cream the soup in multiple small batches.  Return to the heat and heat just until the soup is simmering.  Serve with any bread of your choice.  Enjoy!

One final note:  I used my home grown peeled, seeded, crushed tomatoes that I had frozen in the freezer.  The original recipe calls for 3 lbs of fresh tomatoes.  If you choose to use fresh tomatoes, the recipe calls for peeling, seeding, and quartering them, placing them on a baking pan, and seasoning with some salt and pepper.  You are to then roast them in a 400 degree oven for about 30 minutes.  I'm not sure this is necessary as the soup I made tonight tasted the same as the soup made with the roasted tomatoes.  If I didn't have my own tomaotes, I would have used half Muir Glen's fire roasted crushed tomatoes, and half regular crushed canned tomatoes.  The type of tomatoes you use is your choice and what makes cooking so fun!