Monday, October 2, 2017

RECIPE: Tomato Feta Soup (Instant Pot)

It's been a long time since I've posted a recipe. While we were traveling, we stopped at a Trader Joe's and they were sampling their Tomato Feta Soup. We all liked it, even Ashlyn, who typically doesn't like tomato soup. So when we got home, I went online looking for a copycat recipe. And couldn't find one. I did, however, find the list of ingredients in their soup. I love using my Instant Pot for lunch. I can get everything in and then go back to doing school with the girls while it cooks. So I looked at different recipes and combined ideas and tweaked things, and considered the ingredients in Trader Joe's Soup and here's what I came up with.  I'm not going to call this a copycat of Trader Joe's because I honestly don't have a very clear memory of what it tasted like (and since there aren't any Trader Joe's stores anywhere near here, I can't buy some to compare), regardless, we all liked this soup and I'll be adding it to our lunch rotation!

INGREDIENTS:
1/4 c butter
1 lg onion,chopped
handful of baby carrots, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 28 oz cans whole peeled tomatoes*
1 Tbsp each: dried basil, dried parsley, dried oregano, chili powder
2 bay leaves
1 c whole milk
salt to taste
Crumbled Feta cheese

* I substituted 4 c cubed fresh tomatoes for one can

Place butter in instant pot and push the Saute button. Once butter is melted, saute onions and carrots until soft. Add garlic and tomatoes (If using all fresh tomatoes you might need to add up to a cup of water or broth. The canned whole tomatoes had plenty of liquid in them, and we prefer thicker soups). Add seasoning and bay leaves. Press cancel to turn off the saute feature. Lock lid in place and make sure pressure valve is closed. Turn on manual for 5 minutes (high pressure). Allow to pressure to naturally release. Puree soup until smooth with immersion blender (or in batches in a regular blender). Stir in milk and salt to taste.

To serve, top each bowl with a spoonful of crumbled feta.