Grilled Cheese with Tomato Soup For Two
By Cecelia JenkinsPublished on August 19, 2016
Time
45 minutes
Yield
Serves 2
Ingredients
Before You Begin
For this recipe, we prefer the creamy texture and smooth melting ability of American cheese, but you can substitute cheddar or Gruyère cheese, if desired. Our favorite sliced deli American cheese is Boar’s Head American Cheese. Because we don’t recommend preheating an empty nonstick skillet, we call for a conventional skillet here.
Instructions
- Tear 1/2 slice bread into 1-inch pieces; set aside. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Add onion, garlic, bay leaf, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and pepper flakes, if using. Cover and cook until onion is softened, 3 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add tomatoes and their juice, broth, sugar, and bread pieces to saucepan, breaking up tomatoes with wooden spoon. Cook, uncovered, until bread pieces break down, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat; discard bay leaf.
- FOR A BLENDER: Transfer soup to blender jar and process until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Return soup to saucepan and season with salt and pepper to taste.FOR AN IMMERSION BLENDER: Place blender directly in saucepan so blades are submerged (you may need to tilt saucepan slightly) and blend until smooth and creamy, about 3 minutes, scraping down sides of saucepan as needed. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Using remaining 4 slices bread, make 2 sandwiches with 2 cheese slices each. Preheat 12-inch skillet over medium-low heat for 3 minutes. Brush 1 side of sandwiches with half of melted butter. Place sandwiches buttered side down in skillet. Brush tops of sandwiches with remaining melted butter. Cover and cook until sandwich bottoms are golden brown, 4 to 8 minutes, moving sandwiches as needed for even browning.
- Using metal spatula, flip sandwiches and continue to cook, covered, until golden brown on second side and cheese is melted, about 3 minutes.
- Bring soup to simmer over medium heat. Ladle into bowls, sprinkle with chives, and serve with sandwiches.
Time
45 minutesYield
Serves 2Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Why This Recipe Works
Grilled cheese is a snap, but tomato soup? For a homemade soup that was fast and made just enough for two, we quickly sweated onion and garlic with a bay leaf and red pepper flakes and then added just one 14.5-ounce can of whole peeled tomatoes, a little brown sugar to balance the tomatoes’ acidity, and 1 cup of chicken broth. Though cream is often used to add body to tomato soup, it mutes bright tomato flavor, so we thickened the soup by adding bread (a Spanish gazpacho technique) and reaching for the blender. For ultracreamy grilled cheese, we used rich American cheese and brushed melted butter on the bread for easier and better coverage than spreading the slices with softened butter. We cooked the sandwiches in a preheated skillet over medium-low heat, flipping them once, to yield golden-brown, crispy sandwiches.
Before You Begin
For this recipe, we prefer the creamy texture and smooth melting ability of American cheese, but you can substitute cheddar or Gruyère cheese, if desired. Our favorite sliced deli American cheese is Boar’s Head American Cheese. Because we don’t recommend preheating an empty nonstick skillet, we call for a conventional skillet here.
Instructions
- Tear 1/2 slice bread into 1-inch pieces; set aside. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Add onion, garlic, bay leaf, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and pepper flakes, if using. Cover and cook until onion is softened, 3 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add tomatoes and their juice, broth, sugar, and bread pieces to saucepan, breaking up tomatoes with wooden spoon. Cook, uncovered, until bread pieces break down, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat; discard bay leaf.
- FOR A BLENDER: Transfer soup to blender jar and process until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Return soup to saucepan and season with salt and pepper to taste.FOR AN IMMERSION BLENDER: Place blender directly in saucepan so blades are submerged (you may need to tilt saucepan slightly) and blend until smooth and creamy, about 3 minutes, scraping down sides of saucepan as needed. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Using remaining 4 slices bread, make 2 sandwiches with 2 cheese slices each. Preheat 12-inch skillet over medium-low heat for 3 minutes. Brush 1 side of sandwiches with half of melted butter. Place sandwiches buttered side down in skillet. Brush tops of sandwiches with remaining melted butter. Cover and cook until sandwich bottoms are golden brown, 4 to 8 minutes, moving sandwiches as needed for even browning.
- Using metal spatula, flip sandwiches and continue to cook, covered, until golden brown on second side and cheese is melted, about 3 minutes.
- Bring soup to simmer over medium heat. Ladle into bowls, sprinkle with chives, and serve with sandwiches.
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