Tomato Alphabet Soup

On chilly autumn afternoons, nothing warms more than a good bowl of creamy tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich. Puréed alphabet pasta, instead of cream, thickens the soup in this version.

Yield: 6 servings (serving size: about 1 cup)

Ingredients

• 2  tablespoons  butter
• 1  cup  chopped onion
• 1  cup  chopped carrot
• 1/3  cup  chopped celery
• 1 1/2  cups  vegetable broth
• 1  teaspoon  dried basil
• 1/4  teaspoon  black pepper
• 1  (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
• 2  cups  cooked alphabet pasta (about 1 cup uncooked pasta), divided
• 1  cup  2% reduced-fat milk

Preparation

Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion, carrot, and celery; sauté 4 minutes or until tender. Add broth, basil, pepper, and tomatoes, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer 15 minutes. Stir in 1/2 cup pasta. Remove from heat; let stand 5 minutes.

Place half of tomato mixture in a blender, and process until smooth. Pour puréed soup into a large bowl. Repeat procedure with remaining tomato mixture. Return puréed soup to pan; stir in remaining pasta and milk. Cook over medium-high heat 2 minutes or until thoroughly heated, stirring frequently (do not boil).

Nutritional Information

Calories:

175 (27% from fat)

Fat:

5.2g (sat 2.9g,mono 1.3g,poly 0.2g)

Protein:

6.1g

Carbohydrate:

27.9g

Fiber:

4g

Cholesterol:

13mg

Iron:

1.3mg

Sodium:

492mg

Calcium:

93mg