Winter Tomato Soup for the Slow Cooker

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...I found this terrific recipe in Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook, by Beth Hensberger and Julie Kaufman. Those of you who try the recipe are in for a real taste treat. The soup is outstanding and once you've tasted it, I suspect the recipe will find its way into your regular rotation. It uses a lot of butter, and I know many of you will instinctively want to cut back on it as you prepare the soup. I urge you not to. This soup uses a handful of ingredients and cutting back on any of them is an invitation to disappointment. The slow cooker frees you from attending the soup as it cooks, so once you have sauteed the onions, the soup becomes an effortless creation. I hope you'll try this. It almost - almost - made my socks go up and down. Here's the recipe.

Winter Tomato Soup for the Slow Cooker...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite courtesy of Beth Hensperger

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter

1 large or 2 medium-size yellow onions, chopped

1 quart home-canned tomatoes or one 28-ounce can imported Italian whole or chopped plum tomatoes, with their juice

1/2 cup dry vermouth or dry white wine

1 tablespoon sugar

1 heaping teaspoon dried tarragon

Kosher or sea salt to taste

Cold sour cream for serving

Directions:

1) Melt butter in a large skillet set over medium heat. Add onion and cook until golden, about 15 minutes, stirring often to cook evenly.

2) Combine tomatoes, vermouth, sugar, and tarragon in a slow cooker. Scrape contents of skillet into tomato mixture.Cover and cook on LOW for 5 to 6 hours.

3) Pur