Cream Of Tomato Soup With Green Chilies And Cilantro Pesto

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Submitted per request for tomato soup and i thought this seemed really interesting and a bit different from the ordinary tomato soup. Recipe source: bon appetit (december 1986)

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Steps

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Heat oil in large saucepan or dutch oven over medium low heat.

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Add celery , leek and onion and cook for 15 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

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Add next 7 ingredients and simmer for 45 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

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Strain soup , pressing on solids to extact as much liquid as possible , discard solids.

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In same saucepan as used to make tomato broth / soup , melt butter over medium-low heat.

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Add flour and whisk for about 10 minutes.

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Whisk in soup and simmer for 20-30 minutes or until thickened.

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Stir in half and half and continue simmering until heated through.

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Add chilie , tomatoes , 2 tablespoons pesto , sugar , salt and pepper.

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To make pesto: mix all pesto ingredients together in a food processor for 2 minutes until smooth.

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Store in jar in refrigerator.

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Ingredients

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olive oil, celery, leek, onion, tomatoes, chicken stock, fresh parsley, fresh basil, bay leaves, thyme, marjoram, butter, flour, half-and-half, poblano chiles, sugar, salt, white pepper, fresh cilantro leaves, fresh parmesan cheese, pumpkin seeds, lemon juice, garlic