Creamy Tomato Soup with Homemade Italian Croutons

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — This soup will warm your heart on a cold winter’s night. 

Creamy Tomato Soup

• 1 tablespoon olive oil 
• 1 large sweet onion, chopped 
• 3 tablespoons tomato paste 
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 large can whole tomatoes 
• 2 cups chicken broth or vegetable broth 
• 2 teaspoons sweetener (such as brown sugar, monk fruit or other preferred sweetener)
• 1 can Great Northern beans or cannellini beans 
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream 

Homemade Italian Croutons 

• 2-3 cups bread cubes (from an Italian loaf of bread, whole wheat bread, or whatever you have on hand) 
• 2-3 tablespoons olive oil 
• 1/4 teaspoon salt 
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano 

Directions

1. In a medium-sized pot, sauté onions in olive oil until translucent.
2. Add tomato paste and salt, and cook for another couple of minutes.
3. Add tomatoes, broth, and sweetener. Simmer for 20 minutes. Turn soup off and carefully transfer some of the soup to a blender, adding beans and cream.
4. Blend on high until smooth. Return soup to the pot and keep blending in batches until fully smooth. Return to low heat if needed. 
5. For croutons, toss all ingredients on a baking sheet and shake croutons so they are in a single layer on the sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for 5-10 minutes until toasted. 

Serve soup with croutons on top on a cold evening!