Grown Up Grilled Cheese & Tomato Soup

Out of my 4 years in college, I lived in my sorority house for 3 of them. Without fail, we had tomato soup and grilled cheese for lunch EVERY Friday (to help nurse us back from the night before). Really, is there anything that is much more comforting than a greasy grilled cheese and a sweet tomato soup? After a long day of cleaning up after 4 year olds, I wanted a good old fried sandwich and soup to dip it in. But I really don't like the metaly taste in canned soups so of course I had to make my own!!! I was going to make it in my slow cooker and let it slowly go from chunky tomatoes to soupy perfection but, alas, I forgot the basil :( But that's ok, it still turned out GREAT. AND, with NO salt!!!!! :)

What you'll need:
3 lbs. roma tomatoes
1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes (preferably no salt added and organic)
1 cup chopped basil (save some for garnishing, too)
Dash of red pepper flakes
1 medium onion, chopped
6 cloves chopped garlic
Olive oil
Salt & pepper for the tomatoes
4 cups low sodium vegetable broth (preferably organic)

1. Preheat the oven to 400*
2. Cut the tomatoes in half, lengthwise, and season with olive oil, salt, and pepper (Or, if you have time, you can roast them the way I did in a previous post seen here)
3. Season with olive oil, salt, and pepper and roast for 45 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, in a large pot, heat some olive oil and sauté the chopped onions for about 5 minutes.

 

5. Chop the garlic then add them to the onions and red pepper flakes and sauté for just a minute (burnt garlic is ICKY!!!).

6. When the tomatoes are cooked, add them to the pot along with the canned tomatoes, chopped basil, and veggie broth.

7. Let everything cook on medium/low heat for 30 minutes.

8. When the flavors have come together, use a hand blender and mix everything together (it should still have texture!) If you don't have a hand blender, you can use a regular one, but just do it in SMALL BATCHES. It will explode ALL over you!

9. Garnish with some chopped basil and a sprinkle of parmesan!

Oh, and don't you dare think that I was going to eat a nasty processed cheese and white bread sandwich. No no no, friends! This is a grown up grilled cheese. What makes it grown up, you ask? Truffle butter :) It's about $10 for a small container, which sure beats $5,000 for full truffles.

1. Simply butter (truffle butter!!!) each side of some GOOD quality bread (I chose sourdough).

2. I used a panini press but you can use a regular pan on medium heat.

3. Once the cheese melts, cut the sammy in half and eat RIGHT AWAY!!!

enjoy :)