I held off for as long as I could… but I couldn’t help but post at least one soup recipe this summer! According to an Instagram poll I posted a few weeks ago, apparently most of you don’t mind eating soup year-round. This is why we’re friends.
This week’s recipe is a step up from the traditional Campbell’s tomato soup with a Wonder-Bread-and-Velveeta grilled cheese. The process may take slightly longer than that traditional recipe, but I promise you that it is still ultra simple, delicious, and worth the time!
Just as your skills grow in the kitchen, so should your collection of utensils and gadgets. For that reason, I posted a few links below to products that I genuinely use and recommend to others. This post includes affiliate links to those products for which I may make a small commission at no extra cost to you, should you make a purchase.
If you love a good soup and sammie combo, you may become just as obsessed with this recipe as I have. The soup itself is a much healthier version than the canned stuff, and the grilled cheese is what the young kids might call “boujee”--excessively fancy for no reason--but in a good way.
But that’s us, right? We might be average, but we can also be fancy. Let’s get cooking!
“Grown Up” Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese
Serves about 4
Estimated time, start to serve: 60 minutes
Quick side note: If you are soup-obsessed like me, then you need a set of real soup spoons like these. I cannot eat soup without them! They are by far my favorite kitchen utensil that I never knew I needed.
Soup Ingredients:
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 stalks of celery, sliced
3 whole carrots, peeled and chopped; approximately one cup of chopped baby carrots
1 small yellow onion, roughly diced
Salt and pepper, to taste
4 cloves of garlic, freshly minced or grated; approximately 2 tsp. of the pre-minced kind)
1 tsp. dried basil (Italian seasoning works too)
One 14-15-oz. can of diced tomatoes, “fire roasted” if you can find it
1 Tbsp. white sugar or sugar substitute; I used “Stevia in the Raw”
3-4 cups of chicken broth/stock, depending on your soup thickness preference; you can always add 3 cups initially and then add in the rest if the soup is too thick
2 bay leaves
1 Tbsp. butter
¼ cup plain Greek yogurt or sour cream
¼ cup milk of choice, even if it's non-dairy
Grated parmesan cheese for garnish
Grilled Cheese Ingredients: Makes ONE sandwich--adjust for however many you need
2 slices of your bread of choice
3 mini rounds of fresh mozzarella cheese: I love the 8-oz. log of fresh mozzarella that comes pre-sliced; otherwise, a piece of traditional deli-sliced mozzarella cheese is fine
Approximately 1 Tbsp. of mayo (can substitute for butter)
Approximately 1 Tbsp. of grated parmesan cheese
Instructions:
1. Heat a large pot over medium heat. Chop all of the veggies while it heats up; they do not need to be pretty since they’ll be blended up later. Smaller veggies are preferred, though, because they’ll take less time to cook.
2. Add the olive oil to the pot, followed by the celery, carrot, onion, and basil. Season with salt and pepper. Stir well and cover for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the veggies are almost completely tender.
3. Add in the garlic and sauté for 2-3 more minutes.
4. Stir in the diced tomatoes (do not drain) and the sugar/sweetener.
5. Add in the chicken broth/stock, bay leaves, and butter. Bring the pot to a simmer and cover. Let cook for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
6. Remove the bay leaves. Ladle approximately a half cup of the broth into a small bowl and whisk it with the Greek yogurt/sour cream and milk. Then, gradually pour this mixture back into the soup. The dairy products need a transitional temperature environment or else they'll curdle when added directly into the hot soup.
7. Transfer part of the soup to a blender and blend on high for around 30 seconds or until the soup is smooth. Blend in 2-3 batches and keep a small hole at the top of the blender exposed to let the steam escape (and avoid an explosion). Transfer to a bowl while you repeat this process with the rest of the soup. Blending it all at once in a full blender can be tricky and dangerous! Or, you can use a handy-dandy immersion blender like this one and blend the soup right in the pot. It’s a lifesaver and comes with other attachments too!
8. Return the soup to its original cooking pot and allow to cook on low until ready to serve. It’s at this point that I begin making the grilled cheese sandwiches.
9. Heat a skillet to medium heat. I use an inexpensive mini indoor grill like this one, and it makes making grilled cheeses and paninis an absolute breeze.
10. Place the mozzarella cheese between the slices of bread. If using fresh mozzarella, use less than you think you’ll need; it takes up a lot of space when it melts!
11. On both outside sides of the bread that will be exposed to the skillet or mini grill, spread a thin layer of mayo. Then, shake on some parmesan cheese and smear it into the mayo so that it sticks to the outside. Repeat this process with all of your sandwiches.
12. Spray your skillet, mini grill, or panini press with nonstick cooking spray. Cook each sandwich until golden brown on the outside and the cheese is melty. I like to cut mine corner-to-corner to form triangles for easy dipping.
13. Ladle out the soup and garnish with parmesan cheese. Serve with grilled cheese on the side. Enjoy!
Was your dinner creation photo-worthy? Take a photo of your soup and sammie and tag @the.brass.spoon on Instagram to brag about your masterpiece!
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