Pesto Tomato Soup

I am enjoying lunch today.  This weekend was a bit hectic.  I was supposed to get home close to midnight on Friday.  After everything was over in Pittsburgh, we rushed to the airport.  Upon arrival, we found that our flight to Chicago had been cancelled and we didn't get to come home until the next day.  I was one of the lucky three that got to leave early Saturday morning to arrive home that afternoon.  The rest of our party didn't get to arrive home until late Saturday evening.  We made the best of it!  What else can you do?

The first leg of our early Saturday morning flight took us on a 5-1/2 hour trip to San Fransisco.  While in San Fran, we enjoyed lunch and I picked up a loaf of Sourdough from Boulin.  Yummy.  What goes perfectly with Sourdough bread?  Pesto Tomato Soup!  I enjoyed a huge bowl last night and am currently slurping down another warm steamy helping.  There's enough for dinner tonight after Zumba, too.  Perhaps with a Grilled Sourdough and Cheese sandwich.

Here's the recipe for the soup.  Hope you like it as much as I do!

Pesto Tomato Soup

1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 Tbsp butter
1 (14.5 oz. can) no salt added diced tomatoes
1 (14 oz. can) low sodium chicken broth
1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce with basil, oregano and garlic
salt and pepper to taste
half and half (optional)
Pesto (optional)

1.  Melt butter in the bottom of a saucepan.  Add onions and cook on medium low heat until soft and translucent, about 10 minutes.

2.  Add diced tomatoes, chicken broth, and tomato sauce.  Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes.

3.  Remove from heat and blend with a hand blender until (mostly) smooth.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

The soup will be pretty creamy already, but sometimes I like to stir in a few Tbsp of half and half (I use fat free) to add some silky texture.  I also like to up the flavor a bit by adding a spoonful or two of Pesto Sauce.  I like to make my own, but this time of year, fresh basil is hard to find.  I used the Classico sauce from work. :)