Tomato Soup

Yay, I made homemade tomato soup!  It was very good, but so is Trader Joe's.  I love the roasted red pepper kind.  But this one is delicious and simple and comes with the added satisfaction that you made it.  I found inspiration from my friend over at Salt, Sour, Spicy, Sweet.  She had served some delicious tomato soup at our friend's bridal shower earlier this year and I've actually been wanting to make it since then (if you are entertaining with this soup, serving it in mugs works well).  Since fall has arrived and I'm trying to make healthier meals when I can I thought this was perfect.  I served it with warm, savory cheddar dill scones my father made and they really compliment the soup.  In fact, I can't imagine anything going better with the soup than the scones, they were delicious (yes, my mother still brings me food, a lot, and we happily accept it).  He followed this Barefoot Contessa recipe.  

Tomato Soup
1 15 oz can tomato puree
1 15 oz can diced tomatoes
2 carrots, chopped
2 celery, chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
4 cups chicken broth or vegetable broth
rosemary
salt, pepper
bay leaf
fresh basil or a spoon of pesto
2 tablespoons sour cream

Heat some olive oil and a tablespoon of butter in a dutch oven.  Sautee onions, celery and carrots for a good 20 minutes or so, until softened.  Sprinkle a pinch of rosemary (I think I overdid the rosemary, so be careful with this herb), salt, pepper and toss in garlic.  Then add chicken broth and tomatoes (you could easily use 1 28 oz can of puree or crushed tomatoes), bay leaf.  Let simmer for a while.  Add some freshly chopped basil or a spoon of pesto if you want the flavor.  I then added two spoons of sour cream (you could also add cream).  I used a hand blender to puree some of the chunks up, but I left it quite chunky.