• In a 3 ½- or 4-quart slow cooker combine onion, carrots, sweet pepper, celery, and garlic.
• Stir in tomatoes, broth, tomato juice, lemon juice, sugar, and cayenne pepper and Chipotle chile pepper, and tomato paste if using.
• Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 6 to 8 hours or on high-heat setting for 3 ½ to 4 hours.

For basil dumplings

• In a small bowl stir together flour, basil, salt, and baking powder.
• In a small bowl combine egg and oil.
• Add egg mixture to flour mixture.
• Using a wooden spoon or heavy plastic spoon gently bllend together until a soft, sticky dough forms.
• If using low-heat setting, turn cooker to high-heat setting.
• Drop dumpling dough by rounded teaspoons or a cookie scoop into 12 mounds on top of mixture in cooker, spacing mounds evenly.
• Cover and cook for 50 to 60 minutes more or until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center of dumplings comes out clean. (Do not lift cover during cooking.)
• Top with a few snippets of fresh basil in each individual bowl if you like.