What could be better on a cold January day than a hot bowl of tomato soup and some saltine crackers?
Well…
how’s about if the soup is a jazzed up version of Sandra Lee’s Semi Homemade, and the saltines have been brushed with melted Irish butter before being seasoned with ranch dressing mix and baked?
So very good!
INGREDIENTS
Saltines:
•1 sleeve saltine crackers
•1 stick butter, melted
•Ranch dressing mix
Tomato Soup:
•1 can condensed tomato soup
•1 can condensed cheddar cheese soup
•2 cans spicy vegetable juice (V8)
•2 tsp hot pepper sauce
•1 tsp dried basil
•1 tbsp Sherry Peppers Sauce*
*No Sherry Peppers Sauce? No Problem! Simply add a bit of decent sherry (none of that “cooking” stuff) and a dash or three of your fave hot sauce, to taste. Or, just add one nice tablespoon of good sherry vinegar at the end.
Note: I know, canned soups! All that sodium! That is why I try to balance it all out with the low sodium version of the juice.
To prepare the saltines, heat your oven to 400º and line a rimmed baking sheet with foil or parchment paper, then arrange the saltines in a single layer.
Brush with the melted butter, then season with the ranch dressing mix.
Bake for eight to ten minutes, until the crackers are lightly browned and really, really tasty!
Go ahead and taste one, for quality control purposes, of course, but try to save some for the soup!
To make the soup, simply stir the ingredients together in a medium sauce pan and cook, stirring often, over medium heat until nicely hot.
Serve with the crumbled saltines and, mebbe, my Aunt Buzz’s take on grilled cheese sammiches.
Bring on the cold!