One hearty soup...

Hi Everyone!  I'm rejoining the land of the living today after 2 days of sleep & "Real Housewives of NYC" marathonsJ  And even though you would think we would have been 'soup-ed out' after the first 2 days of this week, we had another one last night that I think you'll like!

Looks like an unassuming tomato soup right??  Well, take 1 guess what the "secret" ingredient is!

How many of you guess the leftover ciabatta bread??

That's right!  Ever try bread soup???  It's soooo very good!  Follow along and make some with me!

First, you toast up a few cloves of minced garlic, a diced onion and a rosemary spring in a drizzle of olive oil...

Next, I added some thinly sliced kale and let everything saute together for about 5 minutes... 

Next, you remove the rosemary spring before adding in:

• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 1 (15. oz.) can diced tomatoes
• 1 (28 oz.) can crushed tomatoes

Then, it's time for the main star of the show:

Add the torn, leftover bread to a food processor and pulse until you get thick crumbs.  Add about 2 cups of the crumbs to the pot and stir into the tomato, adding water or broth if the soup is too thick.  I also threw in a can of drained and rinsed white beans to add some protein to the soup.  Bring to a boil and simmer for a few minutes.

The way you know bread soup is done?  When your spoon does this:

Yep, this is ONE. HEARTY. SOUP! J

At the very end, I also threw in a fresh summer staple I felt like I haven't used in AGES:  Fresh Basil!!  Sighhhhhh....it made the entire kitchen smell heavenlyJ

A drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of grated cheese and we were in businessJ

Thick, hearty and fresh...you would be amazed at the flavors that come from this simple soup.  Not to mention the nutrition boost from the tomatoes and kale (which you won't even notice!  Great way to sneak it in there)

And bread soup or not, I couldn't help toasting up a slice of ciabatta to have on the sideJ

Try this one the next time you have that leftover piece of bread that you have no clue what to do with.  You can make this awesome dinner in a snapJ

Sooo...hope you guys have been doing well...and I'm happy to see that we're nearing the end of the week after my 2 day absenceJ  And since it's Thursday, I'm bringing my Bacon Peanut Butter pie over to Miz Helen's Full Plate Thursday:

Have a great day, everyone!