To say that it’s been cold here lately is an understatement. Last week’s temperatures hovered right around frigid on the thermometer, and we needed something to keep ourselves warm, though I admit that it’s not as difficult this year as it’s been in the past because we’ve moved to an apartment with decent insulation. What I wanted was some soup. Luckily, I bookmarked a tomato soup recipe that I’d seen on Guy Fietttti’s Ultimate Recipe Showdown series a couple of weeks ago.

I don’t typically watch many of the showdown/competition type cooking shows that seem to have gobbled up most of the regular cooking shows on the Food Network schedule, but I’ve been watching this one because it features home cooks who have some pretty tasty sounding recipes. One of the recipes that piqued my interest was by Rick the retired SWAT guy, who ended up winning the Comfort Food episode with a first round mac and cheese recipe that looked like it kicked butt (I have to try it soon) and a second round chunky tomato bacon soup and heirloom tomato grilled cheese sandwich combo.

Honestly, I never thought that I’d be craving tomato soup, as it’s something that I’ve disliked since I was a kid. My sister loved the Cambell’s tomato soup in a can and would wave it in my face every time she had some, which was way too often, because she enjoyed torturing me with food that I didn’t like. She also did this with my mortal childhood enemy, pickles.

Where was I? Oh, yes, tomato soup. For some reason, Rick the retired SWAT guy’s soup really appealed to me, and I found myself thinking about it even after the show had ended. I just had to make this soup, and I wasn’t disappointed when I did. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find non-shriveled fresh basil at the grocery store, which would’ve added even more to the flavor, but dried worked well and the bacon really added a nice, smoky depth of flavor. I’m not sure if the amount of stock called for in the original recipe is a misprint, but I more than doubled it, and the soup was still very, very thick. This made it perfect for dipping, but I wonder if it wouldn’t work better as a sauce for pasta?