Easy Cooking with {Slow Cooker} Creamy Italian Parmesan Tomato Soup with Parmesan Bread Bowls

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This Creamy Italian Parmesan Tomato Soup with Homemade Parmesan Bread Bowls is the perfect comfort food anytime! It’s the “grown-up” version of a childhood favorite! #DinnerDone #CollectiveBias

I’m all about easy cooking. I have been wanting to share a recipe with tomatoes for awhile now. With Summer upon us, we all will be focusing on recipes that keep our kitchens cool. Living in Phoenix, it gets hot y’all. Like fire-breathing dragon hot. The last thing I want to do most days is heat up my house! I tend to do any baking first thing in the morning before it gets too hot! This {Slow Cooker} Creamy Italian Parmesan Tomato Soup with Parmesan Bread Bowls is the perfect summer recipe! 

Most of us have a food memory that magically transports us back to our childhood …. a food where, the memories just flood us. What food takes you back in time to mom or grandma’s kitchen?! Maybe it takes you back to a special occasion or event? I find it quite interesting that as humans, we mark so many occasions with the sharing of food! Seriously, think about it!

For me, I have soooo many fond memories and most involve some sort of food … I truly believe I am passionate about cooking because of these memories. Believe me, blogging isn’t making me a millionaire so it’s gotta be something else that keeps me motivated! 🙂 I do this because I love food – I love the memories I have made with family and friends, I love cooking it, eating it – ok, and not so much the cleaning it up! 😉 Thank goodness for five helpers (aka – my kiddos!)

One of my favorite childhood meals was tomato soup with grilled cheese sandwiches. I loved those days. Life was so much simpler then, wasn’t it? There was always something so comforting about a cheesy sandwich and being able to dunk in my tomato soup! One just isn’t the same without the other …. 

Unless of course, you up the ante a bit and put it in a bread bowl!

Bread bowls take soup to soup heaven …. the only thing better is chocolate – because chocolate always wins. Soup, in case you don’t know, is one of my favorite meals. I literally, could eat it in one form or another every single day.

Tomato soup is one of my faves. While I’ve outgrown tomato soup from a can, I have moved on to greener pastures. I like to make my own these days. With the help of my slow cooker, it makes it super simple. I personally, like the bread bowls, but a grilled cheese sandwich would be great too – and sometimes, I do go that route because it’s quicker or it’s just too darn hot or because I want to dunk a cheesy sandwich in my soup.

I tend to do my grocery shopping on Saturday mornings. Brian is home to watch the kids so I can usually go by myself or maybe take just one of them with me. On a recent trip to Walmart, I had plans to make this Creamy Italian Parmesan Tomato Soup. I picked up some Hunt’s Diced Tomatoes with Basil, Garlic and Oregano. I thought the added spices with be a nice addition to the soup – but if you can’t find that, feel free to substitute regular Hunt’s Diced Tomatoes instead! 🙂

I noticed this Flash Steam Freshness logo on my can of Hunt’s tomatoes. They only use water in the process – no lye! Since Hunt’s tomatoes are picked at the peak of ripeness and they’re naturally delicious – it’s a difference you can taste!

I like to make a double batch of this soup – in my 7 qt. slow cooker – to use for lunch throughout the week! It’s perfect with grilled cheese sandwiches if you’re out of bread bowls or you’re in a time crunch!

{Slow Cooker} Creamy Italian Parmesan Tomato Soup with Parmesan Bread Bowls
Printable recipe
Yield: 6-8 servings of soup and 4 bread bowls

For the soup:
2 cans (14.5 oz each) Hunt’s Diced Tomatoes with Basil, Garlic & Oregano
2 stalks celery, finely chopped
3 medium carrots, finely chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 tsp. Italian seasoning
1 carton (32 oz.) vegetable or chicken broth
½ cup (1 stick) butter
½ cup all-purpose flour
1 cup Parmesan cheese
2 cups half & half
Salt and pepper, to taste

For the bread bowls:
1 cup + 3 tbsp. warm water 
2 tbsp. olive oil 
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese 
2 cloves garlic, minced 
1 tsp. sugar 
1 tsp. salt 
3 cups bread flour 
2½ tsp. active dry yeast

To make the soup:
Place the tomatoes, celery, carrots, onion, Italian seasoning and broth in a 5 qt. slow cooker. Cover and cook on LOW for 6-8 hours. 

If you prefer a smoother soup, use an immersion blender or regular blender to process the soup (in batches, if necessary) until smooth. (If you used a regular blender, return the mixture back to the slow cooker.) About 30-45 minutes before serving, melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat. Whisk in the flour, stirring constantly. Slowly add the half & half, whisking constantly. Cook mixture until smooth and thoroughly combined. Remove from the heat and add in the Parmesan cheese. Stir until melted. Add this mixture to the slow cooker and stir well. Cover the slow cooker and continue to cook an additional 30 minutes.

To make the bread bowls:
Place ingredients in a bread machine pan in the order suggested by the manufacturer. Select the dough setting. 

When the cycle is complete, turn the dough out onto a floured surface and divide into 4 equal portions. Shape each piece into a ball. Place on a greased baking sheet. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled – about 30-45 minutes.

Bake at 400°F for 18-23 minutes or until the bread is golden brown. Allow to cool. 

To serve: Cut off the top portion of the bread. Carefully hollow out the bowl leaving a ¼-inch shell. Fill the bowl with soup.

For more great recipes using Hunt’s tomatoes, visit the Hunt’s website or the Ready Set Eat website. 

Stay up to date on all of Hunt’s special offers, recipes and news by following them on Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest!

Other Posts You May Enjoy:

Southwest Beef Bean & Barley Soup

Quick and Easy Chicken Fried Rice

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