Tomato Soup

Last night I just wanted panini and tomato soup for dinner, but I didn't have any tomato soup. No problem, I thought, what do I have in the cabinet? Well, I just happened to have the makings of a pretty fantastic and easy home-made tomato soup, and I wanted to share what I did.

Although, I almost feel bad calling it home-made because it was so easy.

-2 cans of diced tomatoes, basil garlic and olive oil flavor
-about 1/2 c. of milk
-4 tbsp butter
-salt and pepper

Open the two cans of diced tomatoes and dump them in a sauce pan, juice and all. Bring them to a boil, then let them simmer for 30 minutes. Once they have simmered, blend them up, either in a blender, food processor, or one of those hand-held milkshake maker deals (this is what I used). Note that if you're going to use a milkshake maker thing, it is probably a good idea to take the pan off of the heat before you do this. Not that I'm speaking from experience or anything. Anyway, once it is blended up, put it back on the stove over very low heat - you don't want it to bubble anymore, just stay warm. Add the salt, pepper, milk, and butter and stir until combined and warmed through. That's pretty much it.

Of course, you could add herbs, more milk, cheese, anything you'd like at this point - but I used the already seasoned tomatoes so I didn't have to do any of that stuff. I'm all about easy these days.