Simple and Delicious Tomato Soup (Sewanee, How I Love Ya!)
Sewanee, Tennessee is one of the most beautiful places in the South. Although I’ve only left the South twice in my life, were I better traveled I’m sure I’d say it was one of the most beautiful places in the entire world as well. Every time Mama and I drive through this town or walk along the mountain trails its as if our daily stresses are leached directly from our souls.
There is a peace here that I’ve not found anywhere else. I think the town realizes the value of that peace in how they preserve the natural landscape, burrowing structures among the trees and hills rather than mowing them down to make more room. Even though the famous University of the South is located there, folks have still found a way to keep their heads on straight when it comes to tradition and values.
My first visit to Sewanee was over fifteen years ago. Mama and I try to go there once a year for a quilting retreat at St Mary’s, (although I’ve regretfully missed the last few years and will miss this one as well). We sit and sew, talking and chatting with friends and looking out the windows at what appears almost be too beautiful to be real.
There is also a labyrinth at St. Mary’s that I enjoy walking. The last time I walked it was when I was trying to decide if I should have a second child (Katy Rose is the outcome of that). Mama and I always take time to walk along the trails, often times ending up at the entrance to the convent or the Templeton Library (which has a fascinating history to it, ask any native when you visit for the somewhat tragic inside scoop).
We take time to visit our favorite gift shop in nearby Cowan, The Sampler, to pick up something pretty to bring back with us, and the little white tea room called The Corner House just across the street provides a perfect lunch. As we drive back up the mountain with its twists and turns we have to watch for the little turn off to go to a salt glazed pottery studio. I’m not sure if it’s still around but I think the name is Hallelujah Pottery. Mama has a beautiful vase she got from there and I hope to make it back soon to pick out a mixing bowl. From there we head on over to the township of Assembly once more to drive down the roads cut for carriages and visit the small community virtually untouched by time.
Our days in Sewanee are long, relaxing, and reflective. In Sewanee, we haven’t a care in the world. With no thoughts even for dinner. As each meal time draws close all we do is simply wait for a smiling lady to step outside the kitchen door and ring the dinner bell. It’s amazing how spoiled you can become in just a few days. St Mary’s cooks are known for their simple and delicious food. This is where Mama first had this tomato soup and brought the recipe back to me. I’ve tweaked it a bit but I’m sure you’ll enjoy the outcome.
I hope you try it soon and if you get a chance, do pay a visit to Sewanee.
(Surprisingly, this post wasn’t sponsored by them but just writing about my last visit has left me with a smile on my face and a calmer state of mind.)
You’ll need: A can of petite diced tomatoes, a little pesto sauce, and a can of tomato soup.
You’ll also need some milk. I’m using whole but you can use whatever is in your fridge.
Pour soup into a sauce pot.
Fill up the soup can with milk and add that.
Pour in can of tomatoes, juice and all.
Add a tablespoon of pesto sauce
Stir that up and heat over medium until heated through.
Serve warm. Make it a complete meal by adding a buttery toasted grilled cheese.
Take a deep breath and walk a mountain trail, if only in your mind.
~smiles~
Ingredients
- 1 can Tomato Soup
- 15 ounce can petite diced tomatoes, undrained
- 1 Tablespoon pesto sauce
- Milk
Instructions
- In sauce pot place tomato soup, tomatoes, and pesto sauce. Fill tomato soup can with milk and pour that in as well. Stir and heat over medium until heated through. Enjoy!
Print This RecipeLife is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.
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Posted by Christy Jordan
on Jan 7 2010. Filed under Misc, Quick&Easy, Soups and Stews.
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It sounds like a wonderful place, thanks for sharing it with us Christy! And I want the soup…right now!
Thank you, Kris!
~hands you a bowl and a spoon~
I live in Winchester, which is in the same county as Sewanee and just a five minute drive from Cowan. It is such a beautiful place, especially in the fall. My husband actually proposed to me at the Cross on the Sewanee campus. I wanted to mention that I do not think Hallelujah Pottery is still in business, but I have been wrong before
Hope you get to visit our little county again soon. The Soup looks yummy!
Eventually I’ll go getting all poetic on Winchester, too! lol Your comment just brought even more beauty rushing back to me, you truly do live in one of the most beautiful places around!
Thanks for letting me know about the pottery. Hopefully someone else will fill the void soon!
Gratefully,
Christy
I just think Tennessee is beautiful, period. Love it up there. And it has not a thing to do with my eloping to Nashville to get married, Memphis in May, spending Christmas in at the Gaylord Opryland resort, hiking to see incredible waterfalls in the Smoky Mountains or vacationing in the mountains of Gatlinburg. Okay. Maybe a little!
Nice soup – simple and easy. Perfect for dunking a grilled cheese sammie in if ya ask me!
Have a relaxing weekend my friend.
You’re right. When I think beauty and relaxation, I think Tennessee. Just a glorious place, I’m longing for it now.
I hope your weekend is wonderful too, Mary!
Gratefully,
Christy
There is a restaurant called “Crispers” here and they have a Tomato Bisque Soup that is killer! This looks quite a bit like it, but theirs has a little “bite” to it … manager says it has red pepper flakes … so I may add a little when I try your nice & easy recipe!! They serve it with croutons and shredded parmesan cheese. Thanks!
Trish, that does sound good!!! I love red pepper flakes in things, just gotta go uber lightly coz those little suckers are potent! lol
Now you got me wanting to try this with them also. Let me know if you get to it first!
Gratefully,
Christy
Daaaang, Trish ……that sounds good for folks that like a little more bite to their food, like my honey-pie hubby does. I can fix the soup recipe just like “Super C suggests (since I cough/choke/cough with spicy food and Christy tried to kill me this summer at a BBQ restaurant) and then add some red pepper to his.
Honey pie hubby looooves tomato soup w/ grilled cheese “sammiewiches” that takes him back to his childhood days. Thanks for a great recipe “Super C” and Trish for an extra idea too.
I love tomato soup with grilled cheese tooooooo!!!
This post makes me want to crawl inside my computer and be there, eating that! Mmmmm…
I have never been to the Sewanee area but have enjoyed all of the other Southern place I have visited. I love the south. It always seems so laid back and comfortable. Not to mention beautiful. You make me wish I could go there again soon.
The soup is wonderful. Had it with grilled cheese. Yum
This looks so good! My tomato soup is very similar, but I add spinach too. I love Tennessee too, we eloped there like Mary, but in Gatlinburg. We were fortunate enough, on our Christmas vacation up their, that I-40 was closed through the park. So we got to see Johnson city, and Knoxville, and everything in between. I always thought I wanted to live up there, but now I think I’m just a Florida girl! When I first moved here to Orlando, everyone thought I was telling a fib, and I actually was from Tennessee, I wish. Orlando-ites are so, i dont know, isolated maybe, many don’t know about the culture of the Florida panhandle. They think the south starts at the Georgia and Alabama state lines, lol!
It’s snowing like crazy here in Michigan! We’re expecting 4 to 6 inches of snow and this sounds like the perfect feel warm and cozy dinner for a night like tonight. I may make some parmesan crisps to go with it or just grab the Velveeta and make melty, grilled sandwiches.
My son went to school there and absolutely loved it. We loved visiting him there. Also the “chapel” on campus is a must see, and Shennanigans is a fun place to eat lunch.
Shennanigans!!! That is the place we always stop at for sandwiches and I couldn’t remember the name!!!! Thank you!
Soup looks delicious! Thank you for sharing the warmth of this yummy soup and for “taking” us to such a beautiful place on this oh so cold afternoon here in CT.
Bountiful Blessings!
Christy,
While I’ve never had much off an appetite for tomato soup, I may just give this one a try some day, if only because of the pesto in it. And wow…this is BEYOND easy! lol
Thanks for sharing your story about Sewanee. Sounds like a nice place. Makes me a bit homesick actually. Now if i could only get back there within the next five years it would be a miracle! lol
What a word picture of serenity! The soup sounds wonderful also!
OOOH…can’t wait to give someone some of my “homemade soup”!!…LOL
What a peaceful and beautiful picture, I love it.
That looks delicious!!!
Husband just asked the other day if I made any home made tomato soup base from his garden tomatoes this summer and I had to reply ‘no’ — this looks so good maybe I can get by with it instead? Will try it soon.
mlg
Yum! I love tomato soup. Cambells is a great base for the soup.
I remember several years spending a 10 day vacation in Texas during the month of July and the heat was just overbearing and as we headed back to Ohio and reached Tennessee it was such a breath of fresh cool air that we thought we had just entered heaven. The refreshing air and green mountains were stunning. I have since traveled through Tennessee many times and I always take pause to admire its beauty.
YUMMM…good with some croutons in it, or with some nice crusty bread to dip in it (especially in this cold weather)!
Diane in PA
Mmm… tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches is my favorite comfort food meal!
This is similar to the way I make my tomato soup but rather than adding pesto I always add some mild salsa. The hot variety would definitely give more “bite”. We lived for years in the Nashville area–still love TN though FL is my birth state. I feel like I’ve been to Sewanee just through Christy’s description. Sounds wonderful.
Just reading your post totally relaxed me, Christy!! I would love to go there and see it in person!
You know I might even eat tomato soup if it looked like that!!
The stuff out of the can really turns me off. Maybe fixin’ it up a bit will change my mind.
Thanks,Christy
This soup sounds yummy, and I always do feel like I’m talking to a friend when I get your emails! (I’m from southern Indiana, but if you go any further south you’re in Kentucky, so I’ve always considered myself mostly Southern!)
That looks so good! A simple soup with a simple piece of bread. My choice for soup is usually cornbread, but I can be persuaded to eat a piece of lovely French bread. That is just something so comforting about soup when the weather outside is disagreeable, as it has been here lately. We are having some cold nights.
A grilled cheese is the perfect accompaniment to tomato soup. Like a Ham sandwich is perfect for white bean soup.
Yum! That soup looks and sounds amazing. Can’t wait to try it. I have a tip for you — you should always use whole milk in tomato soup. The fat in the milk helps prevent the acid in the tomatoes from curdling the soup. Believe me when I say there is nothing worse than curdled tomato soup. Blech!
Thanks Christy this looks wonderfully delicious!!! I have three great friends from the mountain!!!!
Christy, I live just about 90 minutes from Sewanee and you are right in saying it is beautiful! Gorgeous building on the University of the South’s campus too. My son has a friend who attends college there.
I think I could eat some of that soup! Slurp! LOL
I can’t wait to try it. Thanks for sharing!
Christy,
Thanks for sharing your memories with us. This story makes me want to travel south, not necessarily to Tennessee, but anywhere away from all the snow we’re getting here in Ohio!! The soup looks great! I’m going to try that tonight with a grilled cheese sandwich. Any other soup recipes hiding up you sleeve? My hubby works outside all day, so I keep stews or chili in the fridge ay all times during the winter months.
Veronica
I just googled Sewanee and yes, it is a pretty place. I’m hoping that in the near future I can do some more extensive travel of the South. I’d like to get a car and drive around. I actually feel pretty comfortable driving over there. It wasn’t at all bad, but my confidence is not so great that I would attempt it in say, LA or NYC.
I am still telling people how beautiful I found the South to be; both in it’s landscape and the people. In fact, I was speaking to the doctor at the hospital today during my appointment and telling her about my holiday, and I said exactly that to her.
Tomato soup – I love it.
I love adding the extra milk to make it super creamy. Your twist looks delicious.
Oh I had some great soups while I was over there Christy. Especially the she-crab soup in Charleston. I know you aren’t fond of little sea critters, but oh that soup was so divine.
The soup really does look great. I’d love to visit the south sometime. I’m from northern Ca,its beautiful here, but something about the south makes me want to pack up and move even tho I’ve never been farther east than wyoming!But, I will definatly have to give the soup a try! Thanks!
I just came across your blog and loved your account of your visit to Sewanee. I have the pleasure to live here, just four years now.
We left California without regrets.
Sewanee is a special place for so many reasons.
I invite everyone to visit and if you would like to
see more pictures of the area, visit my blog
http://redoakhollow.blogspot.com
I plan to make the soup. I just need to go to the Piggly Wiggly for the pesto.
The food at St. Mary’s is very good. The Sewanee women’s club
meets there once a month and the lunch is always excellent.
Good blog. I will visit often.
Thanks for the recipe I love tomato soup with hot cornbread and butter thanks for the nice pictures for my minds eye of Tennessee. I always enjoy Gatlinburg.
This looks great – and I don’t like pesto! Thanks for the recipe and the “trip” to Sewanee!
About 5 yrs ago, a friend and I drove to Sewanee to see our mutual friend on her birthday, who is the USPostmistress at Sewanee. She took us to the campus cafeteria for lunch, where we were joined by her husband. After lunch, she toured us around town and to The Point where one can see for miles and miles.–quaint town!
I’m getting the ingredients for the Tomato Soup, and serve to a friend, if I can find one who is willing to eat my cooking! I’ve signed up for FACEBOOK, but it’s new to me.
Thanks Christy for the tomato soup recipe. Tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches are always the best. sometimes when I don’t want the bread, it tastes pretty good to add the cheese (cheez whiz or canned cheese soup)right in the soup. I like to sprinkle cheyenne pepper on my soup and grab a handful of flipside crackers. (mmmmm good)
This recipe made me giggle!!! It looks yummy but when I was newly married I want to impress my Hubby with my cooking talents! I found a recipe for a tomato bisque that was served at a Swiss ski resort.I started from scratch with fresh whole tomatoes and spent the entire day making this soup! When I served it to my Hubby, expecting rave reviews, he said….. ” Yum, Campbell’s tomato soup is my favorite!” Dang near divorced him!!!!!
Had this soup for dinner last night and lunch today…It really is slammin!!! I couldn’t find the Classico basil pesto so I just used regular pesto from the store…still great!
Sewanne is how I found out about your website. My 1st trip to Sewanne was Jan. 2009 for the quilt retreat. I met your Mom there and she told us all about your new venture and gave us the site to visit when we got home. Well the rest is history. Moms; what would we do without them? I will be headed back this a week from today. Thanks for all the info of places to visit.
It’s me again; I pulled up the sites and printed the history etc… Thanks a million. Last time I went I did not know the history and that makes it even more special. Can not wait to get there and check it out even further. THANKS
Thanks for the soup recipe that sounds wonderful for busy week nights. Easy Peasy is my goal.
I made this last night after reading your post yesterday. I went straight to the store to get pesto. It was hard waiting all day to make dinner. I could hardly wait! IT WAS AWESOME! Next time I am going to double the recipe for left overs for lunch the next day.
Made this soup tonight—DELISH!! I can’t imagine it without grilled cheese sandwiches though. They just go together like PB&J. Thanks for the recipe!
[...] Did y’all see that post I did on Simple And Delicious Tomato Soup? [...]
That looks delish and I Suwannee, Sewanee, TN looks beautiful!!! Sincerely, Cindy
Looks like a place I would love to go! How far is that from here, not very is it? Grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup goes together about like PB&J!
This sound really good, we love just the regular condensed tomato soup. What could you do with the rest of the pesto sauce? Does it freeze well?
I just found out what to do with the extra pesto…….make more of this soup! It was soooo good. Very close to the tomato bisque at mellow mushroom. We really enjoyed this one.
I am sure your tomato soup is delicious but my very favorite is homemade tomato soup made with homemade tomato juice. I don’t use a recipe, just TRY to make it like my mother did. She made the best. I canned about 11 or 12 quarts of tomato juice and already I am getting requests for tomato soup like grandmama made. Half goes to my son with no salt at all and half goes to everyone else (mostly to make virgin bloody mary’s). But I have learned to make pretty good tomato soup using juice in plastic (no cans) containers from the grocery store. I love your site. It is new to me.
Loved your pictures so much. Might just try to get up there.