Tomato Soup With Grilled Cheese Croutons

A hearty, creamy delicious tomato soup topped off with homemade grilled cheese sandwiches, cut into bite sized pieces to place onto the top of the soup..Brings back many memories of my childhood. Who doesn't love tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. We do!!!!






Ingredients For The Soup:


3 pounds rope Roma tomatoes, sliced in half lengthwise
1/4 cup olive oil plus 3 Tablespoons
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons fresh cracked black pepper
1 medium-large onion, diced
5 garlic cloves, minced
3 Tablespoons butter
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 can ( 28 ounce) whole plum tomatoes
4 cups chicken broth or water
3/4 cup fresh basil leaves, measured in cup packed
1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, or 1/4 teaspoon dried


Ingredients For The Grilled Cheese Croutons:

Fresh Country White Bread
Butter for spreading on bread
6 slices gruyere cheese or you can use sharp cheddar, or yellow american


Directions For Soup:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees then toss the tomatoes with 1/4 cup olive oil, salt and pepper. Coat evenly then spread on cookie sheet and roast for 45 minutes,
2. In a large stockpot over medium heat sauté the onions and garlic with 3 Tablespoons of olive oil, butter, and red pepper flakes. Sauté for 10 minutes, until unions start to turn slightly brown. Add the canned tomatoes, basil, thyme, and chicken stock.
3. Add the oven roasted tomatoes to the stockpot, including all of the liquid and scraping bottom of cookie sheet, also add that in. Cook for 40 minutes. Using an immersion blender, blend soup until you get to the texture that you desire. If you do not have immersion blender, you can use a blender or a food processor.

Directions For The Grilled Cheese:


1. Using a panini press, or grill pan, butter each sides of the bread the place the cheese slices inside the two slices of bread, place on grill pan and cook until cheese is melted and you see grill marks. After they are cooked place on cutting board, then slice into 1 inch cubes and place on top of warm soup, then Enjoy!!!

Recipe Slightly Adapted From: phenomenalphoods.com