Tomato Soup & Grilled Cheese Croutons
Yes, you did read the title correctly, that does say grilled cheese croutons. I know what you’re thinking, I thought the exact same thing not so long ago: WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL MY LIFE? I’m okay now though, I’ve seen the light, made these bad boys & redeemed myself. You however have yet to make those life-altering little croutons. & that’s why I’m posting up this simple tomato soup recipe, to give you an excuse to make these cheesy little bites of perfection! Also because it’s a great soup.. Okay fine, it’s mainly for the croutons.
Like the Wine & Cheese Grilled Cheese I posted about not so long ago, I have no idea why this crouton idea didn’t occur to me before. Like, whenever you order a soup & sandwich combo, everyone always orders a grilled cheese sandwich, heck I serve a million soup & grilled cheese sandwiches everyday at work! It’s just so logical that it simply doesn’t make sense not to make this twist on the traditional soup & sandwich combo.
I saw the idea for these grilled cheese croutons a few weeks ago & I’ve been dying to try them out. So, seeing as I’ve been feeling a little under the weather lately & The Boyf and I are smack bam in the middle of our end of year exams, I finally had two valid excuses. Not that you need an excuse to make these, but I was looking for a way to procrastinate so I didn’t have to study. Worked like a charm!
I decided to keep things simple with an easy tomato soup. Besides, tomato soup always makes me feel better when I’m sick, it’s like magic. & this certainly is a magical soup, it is so nice. Almost unbelievably so, seeing as the ingredients are so basic & it takes less than 30 minutes for the whole thing to come together. Like I said, magical!
Serves 6-8 (Adapted from All Day I Dream About Food)
Ingredients
- 2 slices of bread per person (I made fresh grilled cheese croutons each time someone new had some)
- 3 tablespoons of softened butter
- a good few handfuls of cheese
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- 1 onion, chopped
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
- ½ teaspoon chilli flakes
- 2 400g tins of chopped tomatoes
- 3 cups chicken stock
- some oregano, for sprinkling over at the end
Method
- For the croutons, place a good handful of cheese on a slice of bread & then top with the other slice. Spread butter on both sides of each sandwich. Repeat with the other sandwiches.
- Heat a large pan over medium heat & cook the sandwiches sandwiches, one at a time, until both sides are golden brown, about 4 minutes per side. Remove & leave to cool. Cut into 1-inch pieces.
- For the soup, heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat until shimmering but not smoking. Add the onion & cook until it becomes translucent, about 3 minutes.
- Season with salt, pepper & chili flakes. Stir in both cans of tomatoes, as well as the chicken stock & bring to a simmer. Cook for 25 – 25 minutes.
- When you’re satisfied with the thickness of your soup, use a hand blender to puree.
- Serve the soup hot with the croutons sprinkled over the top.