I’ve been looking for some low carb soups to help out with another of those new year’s resolutions that we always make…then forget until it’s time to go to the beach. Since starch is the main source of soup thickener’s that often means brothy soups, which are fine…except that I’m usually looking for a soup I can eat as a meal.
Tomatoes are fairly low in carbs, so I was browsing around for thoughts in that direction when I found this tempting recipe over on Hunt’s website. Bacon, basil, tomatoes and Half and Half. It’s got all my favorite food groups in one place!
Of course, it’s probably darn good as a vegetarian dish as well, and I could alwaus double batch it.
Tomato Bisque w Bacon and Basil
- 1 pound smoked bacon, chopped
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, peeled, finely chopped
- 2 cans (14.5 oz each) Hunt’s® Petite Diced Tomatoes, undrained
- 1 can (14 oz each) chicken broth
- 1 can (6 oz each) Hunt’s® Tomato Paste with Basil, Garlic and Oregano
- 1 cup heavy (whipping) cream
- 1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh basil, divided
Now, that list was taken directly from Hunt’s site, and for a change, I almost followed the recipe. I actually did use Hunt’s tomatoes, the only deviation being that I couldn’t find the Tomato Paste with Basil, etc., so I used their “Italian Seasoning” one…which is pretty much the same thing.
It’s pretty appalling how much a pound of bacon cooks down to, by the way, though in this case it was 12 ounces of lean bacon, but that was plenty, really. In fact, half a pound of bacon would be fine. Of course I used a teaspoon of Better Than Bullion Low Sodium Chicken Base instead of the stock called for. I should really ask those folks to sponsor me, or at least throw some jars my way.
Like it says in the recipe, more or less, I cooked the bacon until about crisp, reserved about a half for adding back in or for garnish. The reserved bits got dried on several paper towels, which left them exposed to the cook…and diminished their quantity somewhat. I added in sauteed onion and garlic, tomatoes and juice, two cups water, and the tbs chicken base previously mentioned. Simmer for twenty minutes.
I added in the cream and simmered it very gently for ten minutes before stirring in the chopped basil, then blended until smooth-ish.
Hunts calls for a blender, and truthfully, it would probably have worked better than the immersion blender I used, which left the bacon in grainy bits. KT, one of my tasters, tells me she liked that part…but next time I think I’d run it through my mesh strainer to get the soup perfectly smooth.
Last I stirred in some of the remaining basil and bacon and divided it up into six eight ounce containers. There was about half a cup left over, which I took as food tax and while I played with the seasoning.
Hunts BBT Bisque - this is their picture...but but mine came out the exact same color. (photo credit: Hunts.com)
It came out pretty well, and would be a perfectly good first course for a dinner party (with or without the bacon) but next time I’d:
- Strain the soup for smoothness
- Add a bit more salt for flavor
- add a half tsp of cayenne for zip
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