Parmesan Tomato Soup

I made soup for the very first time tonight! My mother-in-law gave us her blender, so I'm going to be putting it to good use- starting with this soup! It has a very mild flavor, thanks to the cheese and half and half, so it's less acidic (and therefore much nicer for me to eat) than store-bought tomato soup!

Parmesan Tomato Soup 

What You'll Need: 

1 28 oz can diced tomatoes (I like Muir Glen)
1 cup finely diced carrots
1 finely diced onion
2 tbsp tomato paste
4 cups broth (we prefer using vegetable, but chicken would also be a good choice)
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tbsp dried basil
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup flour
1 cup grated or shaved Parmesan
1 1/2 cups half and half
1 tsp salt
Fresh ground black pepper

How to Make It: 

Add the tomatoes, carrots, onion, tomato paste, broth, and herbs to a slow cooker. Cook on low heat for 5-6 hours. When there are about 30 minutes of cook time left, melt the butter in a saucepan. Slowly add the flour, and whisk constantly about 10 minutes to make a roux. Very slowly and carefully, add 1 cup of the soup to the roux and whisk- it will make a paste, but it will also let off a lot of steam, so watch your hands! After the soup is incorporated and a thick paste has formed, add another three cups of warm soup to the mixture, and whisk to combine. Return this thickened soup mixture to the slow cooker, and stir it in. Add the half and half, Parmesan, salt ,and pepper to taste, and stir everything to combine it well. Before serving, blend the soup with an immersion blender or a standing blender (you may have to do this in batches if you're using a regular blender) and blend until smooth. Return the soup to the slow cooker and set on "warm" until you're ready to serve it! This recipe serves 6-8.