1. Cook onion and red pepper in butter in a stew pot until soft.

2. Add diced tomatoes and fresh tomatoes. Stir and reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 40 minutes.

3. Remove from heat. Add sugar, basil, salt and pepper and stir.

4. With an immersion blender, blend ingredients until smooth. While blending slowly add cream.

5. Return to heat until heated through. Do not boil.

Recipe adapted from Taste of Home.

My boyfriend’s mom recently made a tomato basil soup and since I needed a reason to use my immersion blender for the first time, I decided to make some myself. It took a while to find one that included cream and it ended up being fantastic! It was sweet and had good chunks because of the fresh tomato. If you don’t have an immersion blender (get one, they’re awesome) you can add the soup to a blender and blend in batches. Don’t forget to add the cream while blending. I also accidentally bought diced tomatoes with garlic and onions and they turned out well so that’s an option. And who can have tomato basil bisque without crostinis? Here’s the info on those:

Cut a loaf of bread (I used Challa) on an angle. Put some dabs of butter on each slice and top with cheese of choice. I used Parmesan and Manchego. Heat in oven on 400 degrees until cheese is melted, about 10 minutes. Allow to cool and serve with bisque!