Creamy Tomato Soup

My friend Meredith made this delicious tomato soup for lunch when I visited her and and got to spend some time with her and her sweet little girls Madison and Hailey. I liked the soup so much I wanted to try it for myself at home, so Meredith shared with me the link to the recipe on allrecipes.com.

This recipe is so quick and simple, you pretty much just toss everything together and simmer the soup. It's great for a quick, but filling meal. The acidity of the tomatoes are balanced nicely with the velvety cream cheese. Garnish it with fresh basil, serve it alongside baked or toasted bread. Meredith brushed fococcia bread with olive oil, topped it with grated Parmesan cheese and toasted the bread in the oven. the meal was like a an adult grilled cheese and tomato soup. When I made it at home, I served it alongside some freshly baked cheese bread. You'll definitely want to have some type of bread on hand to dip into this creamy, chunky soup.

Ingredients

• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 tablespoons butter or margarine
• 2 (14.5 ounce) cans diced tomatoes, undrained
• 2 (10.75 ounce) cans condensed tomato soup, undiluted
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, cubed

Directions

1. In a saucepan, saute onion in butter until tender. Stir in tomatoes, soup, milk, sugar, basil, paprika and garlic powder. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10 minutes.
2. Stir in cream cheese until melted. Serve immediately.