Tomato Bisque

I had some tomato paste I really wanted to use up. All Recipes is a good site to search for recipes by ingredients. I came across Tomato Bisque III which had good ratings from the users.

The recipe was good though I did prefer the creamy carrot with curry soup. The tomato flavour was a bit overwhelming. I think I probably used too much tomato paste. The recipe is adapted to serve 3 people.

Ingredients:
30 grams butter
1/2 small onion ; finely chopped
1/2 stalk celery ; finely chopped
1/2 carrot ; finely chopped
1 cloves Garlic ; minced
1 1/2 tablespoons All purpose flour
1 1/2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 cups chicken broth
411 grams fire roasted diced tomatoes ; drained
1 tablespoons white sugar
1/12 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 cup milk
Salt and black pepper ; to taste

Instructions:

1. Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the onion, celery, carrot, and garlic. Cook and stir until the vegetables are tender and beginning to brown, about 8 minutes. Stir in the flour and cook 1 minute longer, stirring constantly.

2. Stir in the tomato paste, chicken broth, tomatoes, sugar, and nutmeg. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer 15 minutes until the vegetables are very tender.

3. Pour half to three-quarters of the soup into a blender-depending on how chunky you want it-filling the pitcher no more than halfway full. Hold down the lid of the blender with a folded kitchen towel, and carefully start the blender, using a few quick pulses to get the soup moving before leaving it on to puree. Alternately, you can use a stick blender and puree the soup in the saucepan.

4. Return the pureed soup to the saucepan and stir in the cream. Cook over medium heat until the soup is hot. Season with salt and pepper to taste before serving.