Tomato Soup

This week I'm trying to burn through the cupboards and skipped the grocery run for the weekend. So night #1 I wanted to use the cans of diced tomatoes and vegetable broth I had and thought, surely there is an easy recipe for tomato soup out there that I could combine with some grilled cheese to get that Campbell's taste I'm accustomed to. Well I googled and searched two of my own recipe books, and did not like any of the five I came across. But I felt like I got a good enough feel for the process that I could wing it- so I did- and it turned out amazing. I didn't measure everything, just tossed in a little at a time so I will try and estimate here on amounts. I did a hybrid of methods here with our BlendTec blender, but I'm sure the final steps can be done as most recipes recommend with an immersion blender.

Tomato Soup

2 cans 14oz diced tomatoes (Italian Style with seasoning)
1 can vegetable broth
1 stalk of celery sliced
1/2 of yellow onion diced
~2 teaspoons minced garlic
~1 teaspoon dried basil
~1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
~1/2 teaspoon sugar
~4 oz Half&Half
~3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese

In saucepan, bring to boil all ingredients but the half&half and cheese. Keep on a low boil/simmer for ~12 minutes until celery and onion are tender. I poured ~ 3/4 of the soup into our blender and added half&half as well as cheese, then used the 'Soup' button which runs for 90 seconds (this step essentially purees). I placed that portion in my serving dish and then put the remaining 1/4 of the soup in the blender with a little more cheese and 'pulsed' only a few times to leave some of the veggies in bits and not completely pureed. Add to the rest of the soup and stir.

Served with grilled cheddar cheese sandwiches!