Food with Passion: Roasted Tomato Soup & Grilled Cheese Sandwich
John Paul Kennedy is a self-taught cook and an avid fan of collecting cookery books with a passion for good old-fashioned home cooking.
His passion for proper family cooking stems from his Grandmothers, who were both excellent cooks, one of whom was a trained chef.
JP promises to bring us plenty of family-inspired recipes and tasty treats while showing us how to get the basics right.
This is one of my favourite go-to soup recipes that I have been making for a number of few years now.
With the sudden change in temperature in recent days, I cannot think of a nicer soup to make that provides you with some necessary warmth and comfort.
My new favourite accompaniment to serve alongside the soup is an American classic ‘grilled cheese’ toastie!
It’s perfect for dunking into the soup and is fast becoming one of my favourite quick to prepare suppers.
Like any soup recipe you can batch make it and freeze for up to a month.
I normally make the soup the night before to allow more time for the flavours to infuse.
For the perfect Grilled Cheese, use sourdough bread and good quality cheddar cheese!
Makes a real difference if you toast on a griddle pan if you have one, but a standard pan works just fine too!.
Ingredients:
For the soup
- 800g on the vine tomatoes
- ½ a red onion
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 500ml hot vegetable stock ( I use x 2 jelly veg stock cubes)
- ½ teaspoon of castor sugar (brings out the sweetness of the tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon of tomato puree
- 10 fresh basil leaves roughly torn
- Teaspoon of olive oil
- Sea salt and ground black pepper
For the Grilled cheese (makes x 2)
- 6 slices good cheddar cheese
- 4 slices of sourdough bread
- Unsalted butter for spreading on the bread
- Hot griddle pan / non stick frying pan (if you don’t have a griddle pan)
Method:
- Preheat your oven to 220 or 200 degrees fan. In a roasting tray, pop in the tomatoes, scatter the red onion, garlic, sugar, salt and pepper over and pop into the oven and roast for 35 minutes.
- Once the tomatoes are nicely roasted pour over the stock, tomato puree and basil leaves then ladle into a food processor and blitz until nice and smooth.
- Place a sieve over a large pot, and pour the tomato soup mixture in on top and using the back of a wooden spoon push the soup through the sieve to leave you with a vibrant red smooth light soup.
- Season with some more pepper, and place on a low heat to keep warm while you make the grilled cheese.
- Make two cheese sandwiches buttering one side of the bread, place the cheese in the middle, slice of bread on top and place on to a hot griddle pan. Using a spatula, push down on the top of the grilled cheese to distribute the heat and ensure the cheese starts to melt. Flip over and toast the other side, until the griddle pan leaves some nice golden toasted markings on the toastie, cut in half and serve alongside a big bowl of soup, dunking the grilled cheese in occasionally for the perfect supper / lunch time dish! Sometimes I adorn with an extra bit of butter on top for extra comfort and yumminess!
In my view there is no comparison between home-made and shop bought soups!
Most home made versions are very quick and easy to make, provide you with lots of good wholesome nutrition and best of all something tasty for lunch or soup that you can quickly reheat.
I would encourage you to try this with the Grilled Cheese toastie, it’s a delicious and satisfying meal all in one that is so delicious to eat and perfect as we head into the chillier months!
TAGS Life
