Tomato Basil Soup (Cafe Zupas Copy Cat Recipe) in the Instant Pot
Tomato Basil Soup is a rich and hearty soup full of yummy flavor from fresh basil and pesto. Make this soup as comfort food, or any day food. It's delicious.
In a sauce pan over medium/high heat, melt butter. Add Celery and Onion. Saute' until tender. Set aside.
In an Instant Pot or Pressure Cooker put Italian Stewed Tomatoes, Pesto Sauce, Sugar, Salt, and Celery/Onion mixture. Add ½ cup of water or chicken broth. This is to add enough extra liquid so your ingredients don't burn in your Instant Pot. If cooking in a Crock Pot, do not add extra water. Give a quick stir.
Secure the lid. Check to make sure the pressure value is closed. Set Instant Pot to Manual and cook for 5 minutes. It will take a few minutes for the pressure cooker to heat up and seal. Then it will cook for 5 minutes. Do a quick release to release pressure.
Use an Immersion Blender to blend soup to a smooth consistency. Mine is never smooth because my pesto sauce is still a little chunky which is like. Just blend up as much as you like. If you do not have an immersion blender, you can remove soup and put it in a blender a little at a time. It's super simple and no big deal. Either way works just fine.
Add whipping cream and blend or stir to combine. Serve hot with fresh Parmesan. Oh so good!
Pesto Sauce
In a Food Processor, place Basil, Almonds, Fresh Parmesan, Garlic, and Olive Oil. Blend to combine to desire smoothness. Set aside. (Pesto can be used in a variety of recipes. Added to Alfredo sauce to make a creamy Alfredo too)