Cheesy Tomato Basil Soup

I have never been much of a soup person, pretty much i only ever ate chicken noodle soup as a child and even with that i only liked the chicken broth. So for me to eat soup, and a tomato soup at that b/c tomatoes are not a favorite, must mean i am growing up... kinda! I fell in love with a place here in Utah called Zupas! Oh how i love there food! but they have 2 soups that are to die for... and one of them is there Tomato Basil Soup! one day i decided to browse the internet in search of its recipe and luckily someone else figured out how to recreate it so i didn't have to (since i would probably never get it to work). I made a couple changes... but here is my favorite soup recipe!

Ingredients:
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 1/4 cup apple juice
- 1/2 medium onion, minced
- 3 clove garlic
- 1/2 diced red bell pepper
- 4 cans (14.5 oz each) of canned tomatoes (drained)
- 1 cup chicken stock/broth
- 2 1/2 tsp dried basil
- 1 pint heavy cream
- 1/4 cup butter
- 2 cups shredded Mozzarella Cheese

In a big soup pot, heat oil and apple juice over medium heat. saute onion, garlic and pepper about 8 min stirring frequently. DO NOT let the onions turn brown. Remove from heat. In same pot add drained canned tomatoes and chicken broth and stir. put 1/2 of mixture in blender and puree (make sure to not have the lid on too tight if its warm-- it will explode if it gets too hot!). when fully pureed pour into bowl and puree the rest of the mixture. Return both halves to the pot and set on medium to medium high heat until warm. Add Butter, Cream, and basil and simmer for 5 minutes. DONT BOIL! then add 2 cups of mozzarella cheese and stir until melted. Then its ready to eat! (and its even better as left overs the next day)

And i can't take credit for any pictures... they are all taken by my wonderful husband! but yes... the pictures are not from the internet so its not fake, thats really what i made :)