Tomato Soup Florentine Style

We still have tomatoes in the garden, even after all the canning we have done this year. So Mike and I were discussing what we should do with the rest of them. I have wanted to make homemade tomato soup; this is when I remembered that our niece had given us a recipe for a homemade tomato soup that we have wanted to make. I dug the recipe out of my recipe box and we luckily we had the ingredients for this soup.

This soup turned out to be full of flavor and it really didn't take too long to make. Onion, garlic, thyme, basil olive oil, and a bay leaf left this soup with a lovely savory flavor. Tomatoes, celery, carrots, and spinach give a little body to this soup. The recipe calls to top the soup off with some Parmesan or Romano cheese. The first bowl that I ate I topped it off with some mozzarella, which was very tasty, but I have tried Parmesan and  that is equally as tasty. Served with your favorite sandwich; this makes for a perfect lunch or even a lovely dinner.

It makes a nice large pot of soup, so I have been taking it for lunch at work. The flavor is still just as tasty as the day that we made it. So if you are looking for a savory bowl of tomato soup, I would recommend giving this one a try, very yummy.

Tomato Soup Florentine Style (Not sure where this one came from)
Ingredients:
1/2 cup olive oil
1 large onion finely chopped
7 medium tomatoes skinned and chopped
2 to 4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 celery stalk thinly sliced
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon thyme
2 tablespoons fresh basil chopped or 2 teaspoons dried basil
2 bouillon cubes (I used beef bouillon)
6 cups of water
1 bunch fresh spinach or 1 package of frozen spinach
Salt or peeper to taste
Parmesan, Romano, or Mozzarella cheese

Directions:
1. Heat the oil and add the onions and tomatoes. Sauté the vegetables slightly 3 to 4 minutes. Add the garlic, celery, carrots, basil, bay leaf, and thyme. Stir will and continue to sautéing for another 2 minutes.
2. Add the bouillon cubes and water and bring to a boil. Cover the pot and simmer the soup for 50 to 60 minutes. Remove bay leaf.
3. Add the spinach, salt and pepper and continue cooking for another 10 minutes. Stir well. Turn off the heat and let stand for 5 minutes (covered) Serve hot and sprinkle with some grated cheese on top.

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